Journey of Bombay to Mumbai: How India accepted the name change 30 years ago
In its first cabinet meeting after being elected to power in 1995, the Shiv Sena-BJP alliance decided to rename the state’s capital as Mumbai
Mumbai: On Sunday, at a function hosted by Mumbai Samachar, a Gujarati daily, union home minister Amit Shah referenced the name change of the city. Lauding the work of the newspaper, he pointed out how the Bombay high court (HC) took cognisance of the fact that the title of the newspaper was judiciously chosen over 170 years before the city was renamed.
Supporting the name of Mumbai, Shah said: “There was a movement to change the name of city to Mumbai. I was born in Mumbai and am a supporter of the name. It’s not Bombay, it’s Mumbai. When that name changed in 1990s some people challenged it in court. At the time the title of this newspaper – Mumbai Samachar -- was considered as proof of the city’s original name, which the court mentioned in its judgement.”
The Opposition backlash.
Shiv Sena (UBT) was quick to allege that Shah was trying to take credit for renaming the city. Thackeray faction MP Sanjay Raut said: “Shiv Sena founder Balasaheb Thackeray led a movement to name city as Mumbai. If Shah contributed in renaming Bombay to Mumbai, were we playing marbles at the time?”
BJP-Sena (UBT) wrangle.
Shah’s remarks come ahead of the assembly elections, where Shiv Sena (UBT) is expected to step up its campaign against what it calls an “anti-Marathi” government. The union minister clearly wanted to send a signal to the Marathi-speaking population that he stands with them.
For past two years, the Shiv Sena (UBT) has been running a campaign against BJP, especially prime minister Narendra Modi and Shah, accusing the central government of redirecting the investment intended for Maharashtra to Gujarat.
In the Lok Sabha elections, the Marathi versus Gujarati narrative set by Uddhav Thackeray’s party led to polarisation of Marathi votes which affected BJP’s performance. The party won only one seat in Mumbai as against three in 2019.
When Bombay became Mumbai.
This came about in 1995 when the Shiv Sena-BJP alliance came to power.
The backstory: How did Bombay get its name?
The city, originally a collection of seven islands, was called ‘Bom Bahia’ or ‘good bay’ by the Portuguese after it was colonised.
In 1661, the Portuguese handed over the islands to the British as Catherine of Braganza’s dowry when she wed King Charles II of England. The British later reclaimed the land around the islands to turn it into a port city. During this time, the name Bombay emerged, although local people called it Mumbai, derived from Mumba Devi, the city’s deity.
After India’s Independence, the city became part of Bombay state. In 1960, the state of Maharashtra, where Marathi-speaking people resided, was formed and Bombay became the state’s capital.
Maharashtrians continued to call the city Mumbai while north Indians and Gujarati-speaking people called in Bambai.
How Shiv Sena maximised the name game.
In the 1970s and 1980s as Shiv Sena emerged as a party of reckoning speaking for the sons of soil, one of the issues it raised was to rename Bombay to Mumbai.
Politicians from other parties also aligned with Sena supremo Bal Thackery on his initiative. Former north Mumbai MP Ram Naik (BJP) spoke about it in the Centre in 1989. He called attention to the issue when he objected to his constituency being called Uttar Bambai instead of Uttar Mumbai (in Marathi).
1995: It’s official.
The demand was finally fulfilled in 1995 after the Shiv Sena-BJP alliance government came to power. In its first cabinet meeting called by then chief minister Manohar Joshi, it was decided to rename the state’s capital as Mumbai. The central government gave its nod for the renaming on October 6, 1995.
“Following Maharashtra government’s move, Karnataka government changed the name of Bangalore to Bengaluru and the Tamil Nadu government renamed Madras as Chennai,” said Naik.
Opposition to the renaming.
At the time, several people were averse to changing the city’s name. They argued, it would be going against the city’s cosmopolitan character. Besides, the world had recognised the country’s financial capital as Bombay.
They also argued, the name change was an expression of Shiv Sena’s parochial politics.
Was it challenged legally?
In 1996, a petition was filed challenging the legal premise of the renaming exercise. The petitioners contended that the state government had not followed due procedure in renaming the city; and hence it was not valid. The HC however upheld the name change, concluding that there was no violation of any legal procedure. It recognized it as an expression of local cultural identity and accepted the new name as legally and officially appropriate.
Later, both state and central governments changed names of various entities that had Bombay in their names such as Bombay Port Trust and Bombay University.