‘Change Jamalpur name to Rampur’

A member of Jamalpur panchayat in Navsari district has proposed changing the name of the village to Rampur, on the grounds that it has “only three Muslim houses and no mosque”. The proposal came from Pratyush Patel during a gram sabha meeting on Friday, which was headed by sarpanch Sajan Bharwad, a Gau Raksha Dal leader. Patel also proposed that there should be ban on sale of non-vegetarian food and liquor in the village.

As some of the 14 other members opposed the proposal, it will be taken up again in the panchayat board meeting in June-end. Patel said he proposed to change the name of Jamalpur to Rampur as an elected panchayat member because there were only three Muslim houses with no mosque in the village. Bharwad, who has been involved in several incidents of waylaying transporters carrying cattle, echoed Patel. “We will take up the issue in the upcoming panchayat meeting,” he said.