MUMBAI: A week after the Shiv Sena joined the BJP-led Government in Maharashtra, the Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) has decided to drop “Bombay” from its name. The 131-year-old non-governmental organisation will, though, retain its abbreviation by adopting the name Bharat Natural History Society.
According to a BNHS official, the organisation’s management has called a special meeting on January 15 to complete the renaming formalities.
“Our work is spread over several states, including Maharashtra, Nagaland, Assam, Uttar Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir. So Bharat would be a proper replacement for Bombay,” he said.
In 2010, the Shiv Sena had blackened the word Bombay on the Bombay Natural History Society’s name board. And Sena leader Anil Desai, now a Rajya Sabha member, had argued that the institute should rechristen itself as the city had been renamed Mumbai since 1996.
Established in 1883, the Bombay Natural History Society, which specialises in conservation and biodiversity research, first proposed to change its name in 2003. In 2012, the proposal was revived, taking into account its extended work area.
“We are keen on retaining the abbreviation. There are several brands like the Victoria Jubilee Technical Institute (VJTI), which adopted new names but retained their abbreviation. We believe that our move is quite logical,” the BNHS official said.
The Victoria Jubilee Technical Institute, one of the city’s premier technical institutes, was renamed as the Veermata Jijabai Technological Institute in 1996 from its earlier Victoria Jubilee Technical Institute nomenclature when the Manohar Joshi-led Shiv Sena-BJP combine was in power.