Last week, Rajasthan education minister Vasudev Devnani has received a threat letter over the renaming of the Akbar Fort in Ajmer. The fort built by Mughal emperor Akbar in 1570 was quietly renamed ‘Ajmer ka Qila and Sangrahalaya’ in 2015 merely on the proposal of a BJP Rajasthan minister and RSS member. As described by B L Meena, the officer Incharge of Ajmer Kotwali Police station, the minister received the letter on December 12, but he has handed over it to the Superintendent of Police in the last week of February 2017.
Akbar ki Qila is situated in Ajmer district of Rajastha, which is also known as Akbar Fort and government museum. It was built by Mughal emperor Akbar in 1570 for his frequent visit to Ajmer city for his advancing emperor. During the battle of Haldighati in 1576 between Akbar and Maharana Pratap of Chittaurgarh, Akbar was termed as a culprit for Hindu religion in Rajasthan.
No expert committee or scrutiny by an academic panel. Nothing. Name of the qila has been changed by only the whim of Rajasthan education Minister Mr. Vasudev Devnani. The fort, built by the Mughal emperor in 1570, carried Akbar’s name even when the Marathas, Rathors, and the British ruled the land.
The original name of the fort enjoys legal sanction from a gazette notification in December 1968 that states the title of the fort is Akbar ka Qila, or Daulat Khana. No amendment has been done since then. Not until Rajasthan minister Vasudev Devnani, an MLA from North Ajmer, had an idea to the administration that the name to be changed to ‘Ajmer ka Qila’ from ‘Akbar Qila’. Then sub-divisional magistrate, Harphool Yadav, issued a verbal order for the name change. The government officials then placed a plaque at the entrance of the fort that read ‘Ajmer ka Qila and Sangrahalaya’. Even it has been changed in all the textbooks also in school level.
At that time he didn’t expect such incident may happen in future that he will receive any threat for such change. The renaming surfaced after a letter by one Tarannum Chishti (although identity is not confirmed by police) threatened the minister in the last week of February, with extremely serious consequences if the name did not revert to the original.
Repeated calls and texts sent by TOI to the Minister and the director of ASI (Archaeological Survey of India), elicited no response. Defending his decision, Devnani told TOI that the renaming has been done to respect the sentiments of the general public of Rajasthan. Above all, inside the fort, there is nothing which personally belonged to Akbar. This fort has been named after the historic city of Ajmer, which is existed since the 9th century AD.
Officials of the fort have repeatedly sought on Director of ASI, Hridesh Sharma’s guidance regarding the new name but didn’t receive any response. Although ‘Ajmer Historical and Descriptive’, a book by jurist Har Bilas Sarda, describes the fort as the royal residence of emperors Akbar, Jahangir and Shah Jahan, including the historical significance of this fort, Devnani didn’t accept the fact.
