NEW DELHI: The Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) president Dr Vinay Sahasrabuddhe on Tuesday requested the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) to rename the national capital’s iconic Windsor Place area in Lutyen’s Delhi to ‘Veer Savarkar Circle’. Windsor Place falls on the roundabout near Hotel Le Méridien, and South Avenue.
Sahasrabuddhe, also a BJP Rajya Sabha Member, met the NDMC chairman Dharmendra, and vice-chairman Satish Upadhyay to submit his request. The Rajya Sabha member, said, “It is a plain demand as ‘Windsor’ has nothing to do with the Indian history. When we are commemorating all revolutionaries, we should rename the Windsor place after a revolutionary.”
Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, known among his followers as Veer, was an Indian politician, activist and a writer. He had developed the Hindu nationalist political ideology of Hindutva and was the leading figure in Hindu Mahasabha.
Upadhyay said, “I personally agree with Sahasrebuddhe that Windsor place should be renamed. I will put forth this request to the municipal corporation council, on my behalf as well as suggested by the MP.” He added, “The renaming process goes through a whole procedure and it takes time but we will pursue it further. We should rename the Windsor place after Veer Savarkar. He was a great freedom fighter and we should give him this regard.”
In his letter, Sahasrabuddhe mentioned that ‘Windsor Place’ has a direct relation with ‘Windsor Cattle’ in England, a famous symbol of British rule. “It is sad that a symbol of British exploitation exists in important places in the city. Residential areas with the name ‘Windsor Place’ that houses public representatives and Member of Parliaments of Independent India is a symbol of British Raj and colonialism,” Sahasrabuddhe said.