Locals demand Rajwansher railway station be renamed

“There still is a board on the train that reads Rajwansher. No change has been made in the name. Even the announcements at the Mazhama station call it Rajwansher station. I just don’t understand why the railway authorities are lax in their attitude,” said one of the commuters Zubair Ahmed. “Even though the government has ordered renaming of the station,there seems to be no one listening,” he added.

Rajwansher railway station is one of the 13 railway stations that fall between South Kashmir’s Anantnag district and North Kashmir’s Baramulla district. The first ever train in the valley was inaugurated on 11th October 2008 by the Prime Minister of the country Manmohan Singh. Other dignitaries that were present on that day included Governor Jammu Kashmir N N Vohra,Union Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav,Union Water Resources Minister Prof Saif-ud-din Soz,UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi and others. To begin with,the train was supposed to run from Budgam (Rajwansher) to Anantnag,covering a distance of 66 kilometers.

The residents of Budgam district alleged that there is no village by the name of Rajwansher. Rajwansher is the name of one of the oldest Hindu rulers of the state. They alleged that the government was using this name to “sanskritize the Kashmiri culture” and demanded renaming of the station as Mazhama or Mazhoom station.

Days before the inaugural of Mazhama – Baramulla railway line on February 14 by the Union Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav,the Home Ministry had issued a circular asking the authorities to change the name of Rajwansher station to Mazhama station. The commuters allege that no change has taken place,either on the railway boards or the automatic announcements. “They still call it the Rajwansher station whish is unfortunate,” said Aamir Ahmed,a government servant.

In fact the separatists in the valley too had raised their voices against this name. They had alleged that by naming the station as Rajwansher,the government was trying to kill the identity of the people of the valley. “They are trying to Indianise our culture,” said Chief of Dukhtaran-e-Millat (Daughters of Faith) Asiya Andrabi.

Meanwhile,the government is negligent of the issue. “It is news to me,” said one of the officials in the DC’s office when asked why the station has not been renamed. “We will look into the matter,” he said. The Railway officials say the matter will be discussed.

Even though the government has issued orders to rename the Rajwansher station,it remains to be seen when this will actually be done. The letters by Omar Abdullah to Lalu Prasad Yadav had read,“It will be appropriate if the railway station is named as Mazhama Railway Station.”