Shah is a Persian word, change leaders name first says Historian Irfan Habib

Historian Irfan Habib on Sunday responded to the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) name changing spree and said that the party should change names of their members first. 

Referring to the party president Amit Shah's name, Habib pointed out that Shah itself is a Persian name and is not derived from Sanskrit. 

Habib said that if the BJP is changing the names of cities, they should first start with their own names, news agency ANI reported. 

Earlier on Saturday, UP Minister Om Prakash Rajbhar had given a similar remark stating that the BJP should first change the names of their Muslim leaders before changing the names of cities.

Rajbhar said that the BJP should change names of three of their ministers - National Spokesperson Shahnawaz Hussain, Union Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, UP Minister Mohsin Raza - if the party feels that Mughalsarai and Faizabad were named after Mughals. 

Rajbhar, who is also the president of Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party, asked to change names of three Muslim faces of BJP first and then change the city names. 

Rajbhar also added that no one else has given the things which Muslims gave. "Should we throw away GT road? Who built the Red Fort? Who built the Taj Mahal?" Rajbhar said.

Rajbhar's comment comes after Yogi Adityanath changed names of a few towns in Uttar Pradesh. Adityanath had changed the name of Mughalsarai Railway Station to Deen Dayal Upadhyay Junction.

Allahabad's name was changed to Prayagraj while Faizabad's name was changed to Ayodhya.