'You Want To Keep The Country On Boil? Don't Belittle Hinduism's Greatness' : Supreme Court Dismisses Ashwini Upadhyay's Plea To Rename Cities

The Supreme Court on Monday came down heavily on BJP leader and advocate Ashwini Upadhyay for filing a petition seeking to rename historical places, which the petitioner alleged have been named after "foreign barbaric invaders".

The bench comprising Justices KM Joseph and BV Nagarathna asked Upadhyay if he wanted to "keep the country on the boil" by filing such petitions.

"You want to keep this as a live issue and keep the country on a boil? Fingers are pointed at a particular community. You run down a particular section of society. India is a secular state, this is a secular forum", Justice Joseph told Upadhyay.

"Hinduism is a way of life, because of that India has assimilated everybody. Because of that we are able to live together. Divide and rule policy of British brought about schism in our society. Let us not bring that back", Justice Nagarathna also expressed disapproval of the petition.

Upadhyay submitted many historical places mentioned in Vedas and Puranas are now named after "foreign looters".

"We have roads after Lodhi, Ghazni, Ghori....there is no single road named after Pandavas, though Indraprastha was constructed by Yudhishtir....Faridabad named after person who looted the city", he submitted.  "What is the relationship of Aurangazeb, Lodhi, Ghazni etc with India?", he asked.

Justice Joseph asked what has religious worship has got to do with the roads. He also pointed out that Mughal Emperor Akbar had actually aimed to create harmony between the different communities.

Justice BV Nagarathna then asked how can 'invasions' be wished away from history.

“It's a historical fact. Can you wish away invasions from history? We have been invaded several times. Have we not got other problems in our country rather than wishing away for things which happened before?”

Sensing that the bench was not inclined to entertain the matter, Upadhyay sought permission to withdraw the petition with liberty to file a representation before the Ministry of Home Affairs. However, the bench said that it will not allow such a course to be adopted.

"Let us not break society with such kinds of petitions, please have the country in mind, not any religion", Justice Nagarathna told the petitioner while adding that "there is no bigotry in Hinduism".

Justice Joseph said that Hinduism has a great tradition and it should not be belittled.

"Hinduism is the greatest religion in terms of metaphysics. The heights which Hinduism have in Upanishads, Vedas, Bhagavid Gita are unequal in any system. We should be proud of that. Please don't belittle it. We have to understand our own greatness. Our greatness should lead us to be magnanimous. I am a Christian. But I am equally fond of Hinduism. I am trying to study it. You read the works of Dr S Radhakrishan on Hindu philosophy", Justice Joseph said.

"Hinduism is a way of life. There is no bigotry in Hinduism", Justice Nagarathna reiterated.

Justice Joseph said that in Kerala, there are examples of Hindu rajas donating lands for churches. "That is the history of India. Please understand that", Justice Joseph said. Upadhyay replied that Hindus have been "wiped off from many historical places due to this kind of nature". He said that Hindus are in a minority in many states and districts.

The bench proceeded to dismiss the petition with observations highlighting the secular nature of the country and the Preambular idea of fraternity.

"India that is Bharat is a secular country. A country cannot remain a prisoner of the past. India is wedded to rule of law, secularism, constitutionalism of which Article 14 stands out as the grand guarantee of both equality and fairness in State action. The founding fathers contemplated India to be a Republic which is not merely confined to having an elected President which is the conventional understanding but also involves all sections of people; it is a democracy. It is important that the country must move forward. It is indispensable for achieving the triple goals enshrined in the chapter of in DPSP bearing in mind the Fundamental Rights also…..Actions must be taken which infuse all sections of the society together.”

The bench further observed that the country must move forward. It is indispensable for achieving the goals enshrined in the chapter of Directive Principles. 

"The history of any nation cannot haunt the present and future generations to the point that succeeding generation becomes prisoners of the past. The golden principle of fraternity, again enshrined in Preamble, is of greatest importance", the bench asserted while underscoring that harmony alone will lead to togetherness of the country.

The petitioner had sought the setting up of a "Renaming Commission of India" and sought a direction to the Archaeological Survey of India to conduct  research and publish the initial names of ancient historical cultural religious places, which were renamed by "barbaric foreign invaders".

Case Title: ASHWINI KUMAR UPADHYAY Vs Union of India [WP(C) 190/2023]

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