Minister for Minorities Welfare and Skill Development Nawab Malik (file) Minister for Minorities Welfare and Skill Development Nawab Malik said on Saturday a decision to rename a Haryana hospital — named after Abdul Ghaffar Khan — after former Prime Minister Atal Bihar Vajpayee should be reconsidered. Malik was speaking at an event organised here to commemorate the 131st birth anniversary of Khan.
“It is acceptable when a decision is taken to replace British names. But, how can a decision to rename a hospital named after someone conferred with Bharat Ratna be allowed? We demand that Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who says that his governance is based on the principles of Mahatma Gandhi, should stop the renaming of the Badshah Khan hospital in Faridabad, named after the man known as Frontier Gandhi,” Malik said.
He added that his birth anniversary should be commemorated for his work including his support for Hindu-Muslim unity and opposition to the two-nation theory. The event was organised by Sarhadi Gandhi Memorial Society which presented a documentary and a play on Khan’s life.
Congress leader Husain Dalwai said, “Khan was a disciple of Gandhi and as a 20 year old, began a school and also was one of the first Muslim leaders to speak of women’s rights. Many in the community have themselves forgotten about this,” Dalwai said.