India, one of the finest democracies in the world, has a rich history and heritage. Almost every prominent city in the country has a long history behind it. Since independence, India has been striving to get rid of the unpleasant memories of the colonial rule. Several places had British-given names and several states and cities were renamed post 1947; for instance, United Province to Uttar Pradesh and Madras to Chennai. 

The process of changing the name of a State involves both the State and Central governments, whereas changing the name of a city involves just the State Legislature. In recent times, several proposals have been brought forth by the BJP to rename several places like Allahabad to Prayagraj, Faizabad to Ayodhya, Hyderabad to Bhagyanagar, Ahmedabad to Karnavati etc and some of them have been already implemented.

Renaming places with "Hindu" names are crooked attempts to erase the legacy of a secular nation and to rewrite history in terms of a particular religion. Such acts may violate the constitutional values of our secular nation. Place names need to be changed only if necessary and any attempt to break the safety fences of secularism should be strongly condemned. Already, there have been attempts on the part of powers that be to influence what one should eat, believe or do.

Moreover, the renaming bids are quite expensive too! We need to change the names on buildings, signboards, roads, administrative papers etc. The money spent of the naming ceremony and building huge statues could be put to better use. The governments should realise that India still has poverty and the lack of food, basic facilities and even justice are the issues which needs to be addressed rather than altering names of places or reviving expired customs.