Days after Aurangabad and Osmanabad were renamed Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar and Dharashiv respectively, the Supreme Court on Monday said attempts to erase the imprints of foreign invaders on cities and towns by rechristening them with their ancient identities was fraught with danger.
Asking the petitioner not to dig up history in a bid to keep the present and future generations “prisoners of past”, Justices KM Joseph and BV Nagarathna said, “you want to bring a certain point of view on history… and create more disharmony.”
Dismissing his PIL, the judges told Upadhyay, “We cannot wish away the invasions. But can’t we move forward and deal with the problems at hand?”
“Historical aberrations cannot haunt present and future generations of the nation to a point that succeeding generations become prisoners of the past. What is of the greatest importance for the country is the Preamble of the Constitution, which professes secularism and maintenance of harmony and fraternity between different sections. This alone will be true notions of national unity and bind the country together. Do you want to go back to the past, keep the issue alive and keep the country on the boil by pointing to a particular community? You must remember that India is a secular country, and this is a secular forum,” the SC bench said.
Justice Joseph conceded that the petitioner has given certain facts which were not known to him but dismissed it as a certain point of view on history.
The bench said, “India is embedded in the rule of law, secularism, and constitutionalism. Article 14 stands on a grand guarantee of the founding fathers to make the country a democracy, a Republic and involve all communities against discrimination by the state. It is important that the country moves forward. The directive principles and fundamental rights are two wheels of the governance chariot for progress of the country. All actions taken by the government must encompass all sections of the society.”
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