Speculations Rife Over Renaming Of Streets newsclick.in

On October 31, the formal bifurcation process of the state of Jammu and Kashmir into the Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh was initiated. While the new governors have been sworn in and administrative nitty-gritties are being pondered upon, many are concerned about the fundamental changes that the bifurcation process will bring to the identity of the erstwhile state.

Post the bifurcation process, the radio stations in Jammu, Srinagar and Leh were renamed ‘All India Radio Jammu’; ‘All India Radio Srinagar’; and ‘All India Radio Leh’. All India Radio’s Kashmir stations, at Srinagar and Jammu, had until now been called ‘Radio Kashmir’, which had been a part of the AIR since the 1950s.

In the same week, Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP’s) national secretary, Tarun Chugh, indicated that as Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh will get Union Territory status on October 31, “the best thing is that now Urdu will no longer be the first and official language of the state.” He added, “Hindi will be the first and official language of the state.” Since the abrogation of Article 370 from Jammu and Kashmir, there were wide speculations over New Delhi’s policies towards the volatile region. Earlier there were reports that Hindi might replace Urdu as the official language and now there are reports which claim that the names of prominent stadiums and streets may be changed.