Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Aug 24: Panun Kashmir (PK) today said that institutionalised pilferage and erasure of ancient civilisational names in Kashmir is not acceptable.
PK said this process is not merely cultural appropriation but represents the consolidation of genocide by erasing the memory of an entire people from their homeland.
In a statement here, today, Prof. Tito Ganju, vice chairman PK , said that what is projected as alternate nomenclature is in practice a deliberate substitution meant to obscure Kashmir’s authentic cultural memory. “Once Government websites, official signage, academic prospectuses and tourism brochures replace the original names, it ceases to be pluralism and becomes distortion of history,” he said. He cited the example of the Government College for Women, Srinagar, where the auditorium is officially described in event circulars and media coverage as the “Lalla/Lala Arifa Auditorium.” This, he said, effectively effaces the identity of Lalleshwari, popularly known as Lal Ded, the Shaivite Yogini whose Vaakhs form the bedrock of Kashmir’s spiritual heritage. “This is not symbolic pluralism, it is a recasting of a Hindu saint into another rubric through official naming,” he remarked.
He pointed out that India’s national heritage authorities including the Archaeological Survey of India and the National Monuments Authority list the monument unequivocally as “Shankaracharya Temple,” a Centrally Protected Monument under the Srinagar Circle. Similar practices, he added, persist with Hari Parbat, thereby subordinating the original Hindu name. He also flagged the usage of “Islamabad” in official and popular discourse for Anantnag, one of Kashmir’s most historically significant towns, saying such practices epitomise how even district-level nomenclature has been reshaped to erase ancient civilisational footprints.
Prof Ganju further said that the city’s historic quarters are increasingly branded in Smart City communications and other Government records as Shehr-e-Khaas or Shahr-e-Khas, overshadowing the ancient Sanskrit-rooted name Srinagara, meaning “City of Lakshmi/Sri,” attested since Kalhana’s Rajatarangini.
It also demanded rectification of tourism brochures, websites and portals that foreground overlays such as Takht-e-Suleiman or Koh-e-Maran, with corrections to be completed within a fixed timeline.
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