Ex-CM PRITHVIRAJ CHAVAN ON THE AUSPICIOUS OCCASION OF FOUNDATION CEREMONY OF I.T.I. COLLEGE AT DONGRI IN MUMBAI. |
Mumbai: A row has broken over the name of the new Industrial Technical Institute (ITI) at Dongri in central Mumbai. While Congress Member of the Legislative Assembly, Amin Patel, wants the institute to be named after Abdur Rahman Shah Baba, a Sufi saint whose dargah is located in the area, cabinet minister Mangal Prabhat Lodha has said that it will be named after the late President and Bharat Ratna Dr A P J Abdul Kalam.
The controversy over the name started after the government decided to name ITIs across the state for the first time. Before this, ITIs were named after their location. The plan is to name the institutions after prominent local figures or personalities.
Patel said that the plaque installed in May, 2011, when the foundation stone for the institute was laid, carries the name of the Sufi saint. The then Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan had unveiled the plaque in the presence of Congress leaders like the late Murli Deora.
“All correspondence till 2024 refers to the institute as Abdur Rahman Shah Baba. The government is perhaps not aware of this. I have nothing against A P J Abdul Kalam. He was a great scientist and a great President. He is respected worldwide, but local sentiments are for the Sufi saint who is highly respected,” said Patel who suggested that the government name one of the proposed medical colleges after the late President.
Patel, who raised the issue during the Mumbai city district planning committee meeting, which was attended by Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, said that he would write to Lodha and to the government to retain the name of the saint.
In response to the demand, Lodha said that Kalam was not only a former President of India but also a great contributor to science and technology. “Any institution named after him is a symbol of science, progress, and national service. Therefore, the name of the Dongri ITI will not be changed,” he is reported to have said.
Lodha said he will not budge from the decision to name the institute after Kalam. He added that a function will be organised at the institute to install a board naming the place after Kalam.
The Dongri ITI, planned by the Departments of Higher and Technical Education and the Minorities Development Department, has been delayed by a lack of planning permissions. Though the institute has not been inaugurated officially, it has started a few technical courses.
Who is Pir Sayyad Abdur Rahman Shah
He was a Muslim mystic who lived just over a century ago. The holy man, called the ‘Sultan of Dongri’, is revered as an Aulik or ‘friend of god’, term for an intermediary who can communicate with God on behalf of the followers. Devotees said that it is believed that he came from Salem in Tamil Nadu and taught the Quran to kids in the area.
The chilla or the meditation place of the saint is believed to be located in the compound of Dongri police station which borders Sandhurst Road railway station. Policemen at Dongri have been his followers and they take part in the annual festival at the shrine. There is a demand to rename Sandhurst Road railway station on the Central Railway, which the government plans to call Dongri, after the saint.
