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Urdu poet Akbar is ‘Allahabadi’ again: Original pen names of literary figures restored on UPHESC website
On Tuesday, the name of Urdu poet Syed Akbar Hussain (popularly known as ‘Akbar ‘Allahabadi) was found changed to ‘Akbar Prayagraj’ on the portal
PRAYAGRAJ The original pen names of renowned Urdu poets were restored on the website of Uttar Pradesh Higher Education Services Commission (UPHESC) on Wednesday, a day after it was reported that the suffixes had been changed on the portal from ‘Allahabadi’ to ‘Prayagraj’ prompting officials to claim that mischievous elements were behind this change.
On Tuesday, the name of Urdu poet Syed Akbar Hussain (popularly known as ‘Akbar ‘Allahabadi) was found changed to ‘Akbar Prayagraj’ on the website of the UPHESC, an autonomous body under the state government.
The ‘Allahabadi’ suffixes of all writers/ poets were found changed to ‘Prayagraj’ on the portal. These included Rashid Allahabadi (born 1944) and Tegh Allahabadi (1930-1970) on the list of Urdu poets from the city. They were listed as Rashid Prayagraj and Tegh Prayagraj, respectively.
“Akbar Prayagraj is a noted modern Urdu poet, and Nooh Narwi, Tegh Prayagraj, Shabnam Naqvi and Rashid Prayagraj have their origin in Prayagraj,” the website’s ‘About Prayagraj’ section had read.
However, after sharp reactions from literary figures and Netizens, the pen names of these poets were restored to the original.
UPHESC secretary Vandana Tripathi on Wednesday said the suffixes of the poets were correct in the Hindi version of the website, but due to a technical fault, the suffixes got changed in the English version of the website. “The due correction has now been made,” she added.
Allahabad district was renamed as Prayagraj in 2018 by the Yogi Adityanath government.
