Tejasvi Surya asked the commissioner to reconsider his decision (Archive)
Bangalore:
BJP MP Tejasvi Surya on Thursday outlined the alleged move to name some roads after Muslims in minority-dominated areas reeked of “two-nation theory community mentality,” and called on Bangalore municipal authorities to review the list with non-Muslim public figures.
Following a report in a Kannada newspaper, the deputy from South Bengaluru sent a letter to the Commissioner of Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (city corporation), N Manjunath Prasad, saying that only Muslim names were chosen to name the roads.
Stating that the list of names proposed by BBMP has only Muslim names, Tejasvi Surya said: “The christening of roads in a Muslim-dominated town with only Muslim names smells like the same community-minded two-nation theory and demand of the Muslim League of separate electorates for Hindus and Muslims. This is dangerous and must be condemned.
The 29-year-old MP said there is no shortage of patriots and non-Muslim public figures to name roads.
He asked the commissioner to reconsider his decision.
“I ask you to immediately review the list and finalize the list of roads that will be named after personalities only after extensive public discussion,” Surya said in his letter to Mr. Prasad.
BBMP officials were not immediately available for comment.
The dispute came as a stark reminder of the controversy surrounding the 100-foot-wide highway at Indiranagar in the city when the BBMP decided to name it after renowned folklorist Dr. SK Karim Khan in 2014.
While the BJP insisted that the road be named after former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, the municipal corporation passed a resolution in 2006 to name it after Dr. Khan, who had a vast collection of oral epics and ballads.
Due to the intervention of a pro-Kannada organization, the road was finally named after Mr. Khan.
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