NDMC drops move to rename Hauz Qazi in Old Delhi after uproar by residents

The move was also opposed by Old Delhi resident and Delhi Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) spokesperson Praveen Shankar Kapoor, who said residents are opposed to the renaming of the historic chowk.

The North Delhi Municipal Corporation on Wednesday withdrew its anticipatory approval for the renaming of Old Delhi’s Hauz Qazi Chowk to Hari Chand Verma Chowk after an uproar on social media by local residents and historians.

The proposal to rename the chowk after former councillor Hari Chand Verma was given anticipatory approval by mayor Raja Iqbal Singh on January 20, 2022.

The move was also opposed by Old Delhi resident and Delhi Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) spokesperson Praveen Shankar Kapoor, who said residents are opposed to the renaming of the historic chowk. “We the local residents strongly oppose North DMC’s decision to rename Old Delhi’s historic Hauz Qazi Chowk,” tweeted Kapoor, while tagging North corporation and its mayor Raja Iqbal Singh, and sought that the decision be dropped.

The proposal to rename the chowk after former councillor Hari Chand Verma was given anticipatory approval by mayor Raja Iqbal Singh on January 20, 2022. The approval letter addressed to local Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) councillor Rakesh Kumar said, “Anticipatory approval...is hereby granted subject to the condition that the particular site is in jurisdiction of North DMC and it has been named before.”

On Wednesday, the mayor withdrew the approval , through a letter issued by the deputy commissioner of City-SP zone Raajesh Goyal. Goyal as well as Singh refused comment on the matter.

Abu Sufiyan, a culture revivalist and old Delhi resident, said efforts to change names of localities in the Walled City (Old Delhi) had increased in the past year. “Instances of renaming places in Old Delhi are becoming a routine now. If the local area representatives do not own their history, how can we hope that they will build the future? If they want to commemorate personalities, they can do so by making new public facilities and naming them after people they want. They should not rename places of historical significance. Locals don’t even know the individual after whom they had planned to rename the area,” said Sufiyan.

A number of historical places such as the Masjid Mubarak Begum are located at Haus Qazi Chowk. While the word Hauz means a “small reservoir”, Qazi refers to “a magistrate’s office”. According to residents, the chowk derives its name from a water reservoir that existed in the area before the 19th century.

Muhammad Naeem, an Old Delhi resident, said the renaming exercise was not needed and residents were opposed to the move. “By changing names of places in Old Delhi, an attempt is being made to rewrite the area’s history. The chowk is historically significant and we have always identified it by the name of Hauz Qazi over the years. A change of name will achieve nothing, except cause additional expenditure,” said Naeem.

Author and historian Swapna Liddle said old maps from the 19th century showed traces of a water reservoir that existed in the area, which possibly is from where the area derives its name.

She said the chowk was a significant landmark and changing its name amounted to an erasure of history. “The chowk is a major landmark of Old Delhi. It’s on the road that goes from Fatehpuri Masjid right up to Turkman Gate. In earlier times, this road was part of what we now call the Grand Trunk Road. On this road, we also have several structures that are from the pre-Shahjahanbad era. We have Tughlak-era mosques, among other historically significant places, there. Every time we change the name of a place, we erase a bit of history,” said Liddle.

Under the naming/renaming process, the name of a lane, park or intersection is proposed by the area councillor and it is then taken up by the naming/renaming committee headed by the mayor and finally by the House. The established practice is that a place which is already named will not be renamed. “Mayor can also grant anticipatory approval to such proposals. The old instructions from the Union government was that a renaming should, preferably, not be carried out,” a civic body official said, asking not to be named.