LUCKNOW%2C%20September%2018%3A%20Nothing%20succeeds%20like%20success.%20And%20no%20one%20knows%20it%20better%20than%20Uttar%20Pradesh%20chief%20minister%2C%20the%20saffron-clad%20Yogi%20Adityanath%2C%20whose%20passion%20to%20change%20names%20of%20places%20and%20monuments%20has%20only%20yielded%20political%20dividends%20to%20him.

His%20success%20has%20been%20amply%20displayed%20for%20the%20umpteenth%20time%20now%20when%20he%20decided%20to%20change%20the%20name%20of%20the%20Agra%20based%20Mughal%20Museum%20to%20the%20%u2018Chatrapati%20Shivaji%20Maharaj%20Museum%u2019.%20Even%20though%20the%20decision%20seemed%20prima%20facie%20illogical%20as%20Shivaji%20did%20not%20have%20even%20a%20remote%20connection%20with%20Agra%2C%20yet%20no%20voice%20of%20dissent%20was%20heard%20from%20any%20meaningful%20quarter.

No%20leader%20of%20any%20significant%20opposition%20party%20has%20dared%20to%20raise%20his%20voice%20against%20the%20move%2C%20apparently%20for%20the%20simple%20reason%20that%20it%20could%20affect%20their%20own%20Hindu%20votes.%20Yogi%20Adityanath%20is%20quite%20adept%20in%20the%20art%20of%20twisting%20facts%20to%20bring%20things%20to%20a%20comparison%20that%20draws%20a%20clear%20cut%20divide%20on%20communal%20lines.%26nbsp%3B%20Thus%20anyone%20opposing%20the%20renaming%20of%20the%20Mughal%20Museum%20to%20Shivaji%20Museum%20could%20be%20easily%20labeled%20as%20%u201Canti%20%u2013Hindu%u201D%2C%20thereby%20jeopardizing%20his%20party%u2019s%20support%20at%20the%20elections.

No%20wonder%20there%20was%20not%20even%20a%20whimper%20of%20protest%20either%20from%20Samajwadi%20Party%20chief%20Akhilesh%20Yadav%20or%20from%20Bahujan%20Samaj%20Party%20%28BSP%29%20supremo%20Mayawati%2C%20both%20of%20whom%20are%20seen%20as%20the%20key%20opposition%20leaders%20in%20this%20state.%20Even%20the%20Congress%20party%2C%20which%20is%20so%20much%20down%20in%20the%20dumps%20that%20it%20stands%20to%20now%20lose%20nothing%2C%20has%20remained%20largely%20silent%20on%20the%20issue.

It%20is%20another%20matter%20that%20the%20foundation%20of%20the%20museum%20was%20laid%20by%20Akhilesh%20Yadav%20in%202016%2C%20while%20he%20was%20chief%20minister.%26nbsp%3B%26nbsp%3B

An%20outlay%20of%20Rs.%20190%20crores%20were%20made%20for%20the%20construction%2C%20which%20got%20stalled%20halfway%20after%20the%20change%20of%20guards%20in%20Lucknow%20in%202017.

The%20museum%20was%20meant%20to%20contain%20the%20models%20of%20all%20major%20historical%20monuments%20in%20Agra%20%u2013%20where%20almost%20all%20were%20built%20during%20the%20200%20-%20year%20long%20Mughal%20era.%20Digital%20maps%20of%20Agra%20through%20different%20eras%20were%20proposed%20to%20be%20placed%20in%20the%20museum%2C%20besides%20the%20traditional%20handicrafts%20of%20the%20city%20that%20draws%20the%20highest%20number%20of%20tourists%20from%20across%20the%20globe.

Reactions%20to%20Yogi%u2019s%20name-change%20move%20came%20only%20from%20some%20smaller%20political%20fries%2C%20while%20senior%20politicians%20chose%20to%20look%20away.%20Some%20felt%20that%20their%20reaction%20could%20amount%20to%20%u201Cfalling%20in%20Yogi%u2019s%20trap%u201D.

However%2C%20historians%20and%20scholars%20clearly%20felt%20outraged%20at%20what%20they%20termed%20as%20%u201CYogi%20Adityanath%u2019s%20bid%20to%20alter%20the%20history%20of%20the%20country.%u201D

Delhi%20based%20historian%20Sohail%20Hashmi%20went%20to%20the%20extent%20of%20terming%20politicians%20like%20the%20UP%20chief%20minister%20as%20a%20%u201Chardcore%20Hindu%20ruler%2C%20devoid%20of%20a%20sense%20of%20history%u201D.%20He%20went%20on%20to%20add%2C%26nbsp%3B%20%u201Csuch%20people%20don%u2019t%20even%20know%20that%20Shivaji%20had%20a%20Muslim%20to%20command%20his%20own%20artillery%2C%20just%20as%20many%20Hindus%20held%20leading%20positions%20in%20the%20Mughal%20army.%u201D

However%2C%20as%20far%20as%20Yogi%20Adityanath%20is%20concerned%2C%20the%20name%20Mughal%20Museum%20was%20a%20reminder%20and%20%u201Csymbol%20of%20slavery%u201D.%20While%20emphasizing%20that%20Mughals%20could%20not%20be%20the%20ideals%20of%20Indian%20society%2C%20he%20sought%20to%20make%20it%20loud%20and%20clear%2C%20%u201Cnew%20UP%20has%20no%20room%20for%20such%20symbols%20of%20slavery.%u201D

Interestingly%2C%20while%20the%20official%20diktat%20for%20change%20of%20name%20has%20already%20been%20issued%2C%20curators%20and%20officials%20of%20the%20state%20tourism%20department%20engaged%20in%20the%20construction%20and%20preparation%20of%20the%20museum%20are%20busy%20hunting%20the%20pages%20of%20history%20to%20dig%20out%20references%20of%20Shivaji%u2019s%20association%20with%20Agra.

Other%20than%20the%20fact%20that%20Shivaji%20Maharaj%20was%20imprisoned%20by%20Mughal%20emperor%20Aurangzeb%20in%20Agra%2C%20there%20seems%20to%20be%20no%20other%20connection%20between%20him%20and%20the%20city%20that%20remained%20the%20capital%20of%20what%20was%20then%20the%20giant%20Indian%20empire.%26nbsp%3B%26nbsp%3B

Evidently%2C%20Yogi%20had%20managed%20to%20put%20the%20entire%20opposition%20in%20a%20catch-22%20situation%20each%20time%20he%20indulged%20in%20changing%20the%20name%20of%20a%20locality%20or%20town%20in%20the%20past.

Even%20as%20a%20Member%20of%20Parliament%20from%20Gorakhpur%2C%20Yogi%20had%20bulldozed%20his%20way%20to%20get%20the%20names%20of%20two%20localities%20changed%20simply%20because%20they%20happened%20to%20be%20Islamic.%20Thus%20Humayunpur%20became%20Hanumanpur%2C%20Mian%20Bazar%20was%20renamed%20Maya%20Bazar%20and%20Urdu%20Bazar%20was%20rechristened%2C%20Hindi%20Bazar.%20And%20after%20riding%20on%20the%20power%20pedestal%20of%20the%20chief%20minister%2C%20he%20changed%20the%20name%20of%20Mughal%20Serai%20to%20Deen%20Dayal%20Upadhyaya%20Nagar.%20Upadhyaya%2C%20who%20was%20a%20well%20known%20BJP%20ideologue%20and%20also%20the%20erstwhile%20Jan%20Sangh%20president%2C%20was%20found%20dead%20on%20the%20platform%20of%20Mughal%20Sarai%20railway%20station%20in%20mysterious%20circumstances.

Yogi%u2019s%20next%20such%20moves%20were%20renaming%20Faizabad%20to%20Ayodhya%20and%20Allahabad%20to%20Prayagraj%20%u2013%20both%20clearly%20directed%20towards%20polarization%20on%20religious%20lines.%20And%20sure%20enough%2C%20he%20could%20easily%20sail%20through%20largely%20because%20the%20opposition%20refrained%20from%20raising%20much%20heat%20and%20dust%20over%20the%20issues.%20When%20completed%2C%20it%20will%20be%20the%20fourth%20museum%20in%20Agra%20containing%20the%20models%20of%20all%20historic%20monuments%20of%20the%20city%2C%20almost%20all%20of%20them%20constructed%20in%20the%20Mughal%20era.%20Digital%20maps%20of%20Agra%20according%20to%20various%20eras%20will%20also%20be%20placed%20in%20the%20museum%2C%20along%20with%20details%20of%20various%20excavation%20sites.%20This%20will%20include%20the%20fabled%20%27Agravan%27%20of%20the%20Mahabharata%20era%20as%20well%20as%20Agra%20under%20Mughal%20emperor%20Akbar.%20The%20handicrafts%20of%20Agra%20will%20also%20be%20displayed%20at%20the%20museum.

Significantly%2C%20the%20only%20time%20Yogi%20had%20to%20bite%20the%20dust%20was%20when%20he%20had%20to%20restore%20the%20inclusion%20of%20the%20Taj%20Mahal%20in%20the%20state%20Tourism%20brochures%2C%20from%20which%20it%20had%20been%20erased%20shortly%20after%20he%20assumed%20the%20chief%20minister%u2019s%20office.%20It%20is%20believed%20that%20the%20exclusion%20of%20the%20Taj%20Mahal%20from%20the%20brochure%20was%20noticed%20internationally%20following%20which%20word%20came%20from%20New%20Delhi%2C%20compelling%20the%20UP%20government%20to%20make%20amends.

%3Ca%20class%3D%22mention%22%20data-mention%3D%22%23YogiAdityanath%22%20data-user-id%3D%22leobAMdwHc03%22%20href%3D%22/topic/yogi-adityanath%22%3E%23YogiAdityanath%3C/a%3E%20%3Ca%20class%3D%22mention%22%20data-mention%3D%22%23UttarPradesh%22%20data-user-id%3D%228fpxFfZw7Hfa%22%20href%3D%22/topic/uttar-pradesh%22%3E%23UttarPradesh%3C/a%3E%20%3Ca%20class%3D%22mention%22%20data-mention%3D%22%23AgraMughalMuseum%22%20data-user-id%3D%2211vmEH1SElqD%22%20href%3D%22/topic/agra-mughal-museum%22%3E%23AgraMughalMuseum%3C/a%3E%20%3Ca%20class%3D%22mention%22%20data-mention%3D%22%23Agra%22%20data-user-id%3D%22rDzfa8ZViila%22%20href%3D%22/topic/agra%22%3E%23Agra%3C/a%3E%26nbsp%3B