Indian university may drop Muslim freedom fighter from its name

BHOPAL, India (MNTV) — A fresh political and cultural controversy has erupted in central India after authorities at a major public university approved a proposal to remove the name of Muslim anti-colonial revolutionary Maulana Barkatullah Bhopali from the institution and replace it with one linked to a medieval Hindu ruler.

The Executive Council of Barkatullah University approved a proposal to rename the institution “Vagdevi Bhojpal University” and forwarded it to the state governor for final approval.

The move has triggered broader debate about historical memory, identity and whether Muslim historical figures are increasingly being removed from public spaces and institutions in favor of narratives promoted by Hindu nationalist politics.

Established in 1970 as Bhopal University, the institution was renamed in 1988 after Maulana Barkatullah Bhopali, one of India’s prominent anti-colonial revolutionaries and among the few Indian independence figures to build an international campaign against British rule.

The renaming proposal argues that medieval ruler Raja Bhoj’s contributions to literature, architecture, science and education make him more representative of regional identity. It points to landmarks such as Bhojtal lake, the Bhojpur temple and broader historical associations with the region.

However, the proposal’s most controversial section directly compares Raja Bhoj with Barkatullah and reportedly claims that no significant contribution by Barkatullah to the region is visible beyond the fact that he was a resident of Bhopal.

Historians and observers say such characterization overlooks Barkatullah’s role in India’s anti-colonial movement and his global revolutionary activities.

Maulana Barkatullah Bhopali was born in Bhopal in 1854 and emerged as one of the most internationally connected anti-colonial figures of his time. Associated with revolutionary networks across Asia, Europe and North America, he became a leading voice advocating independence from British rule decades before India achieved freedom.

Barkatullah was closely associated with the Ghadar movement and served as prime minister of India’s first provisional government-in-exile formed in Afghanistan in 1915 under the presidency of Raja Mahendra Pratap Singh.

A scholar, journalist and polyglot, Barkatullah spoke multiple languages including Arabic, Persian, English and Japanese. He taught in Britain and Japan, maintained ties with revolutionary networks in London, edited publications linked to anti-colonial movements and traveled extensively across the United States, Germany, Ottoman territories, Afghanistan, Soviet Russia, France and Italy as part of his political activities.

The renaming proposal also comes alongside broader academic restructuring plans within the university, including proposals to reorganize traditional departments such as Arabic and Persian under a new Department of Comparative Languages and Culture.

The proposed renaming adds to a growing list of universities, cities, roads and public institutions across India that have been renamed under Hindu supremacist governments, often replacing names associated with Muslim rulers, scholars or historical figures. 

Rights advocates, historians and minority groups have increasingly warned that such moves are not merely symbolic acts of renaming but part of a broader political project aimed at reshaping public memory and diminishing centuries of Muslim cultural and intellectual presence in India.