Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
The Independent reverts to using Bombay instead of Mumbai
http://www.livemint.com/Consumer/lhzhzcg5W7ENYSZItOrO1M/The-Independent-reverts-to-using-Bombay.htmlBritish newspaper The Independent will switch back to using Bombay rather than Mumbai when referring to India’s financial capital, its editor said on Wednesday.
Amol Rajan said the move was a stand against what he said was the closed-minded view of Hindu nationalists.
The city was officially renamed Mumbai in 1995, a change forced through by the far-right Shiv Sena party. However, within the city, the old colonial name and the Marathi-language name are often used interchangeably.
“The whole point of Bombay is of an open, cosmopolitan port city, the gateway of India that’s open to the world,” said Rajan, who was born in Kolkata—formerly known as Calcutta—and raised in London.
Amol Rajan said the move was a stand against what he said was the closed-minded view of Hindu nationalists.
The city was officially renamed Mumbai in 1995, a change forced through by the far-right Shiv Sena party. However, within the city, the old colonial name and the Marathi-language name are often used interchangeably.
“The whole point of Bombay is of an open, cosmopolitan port city, the gateway of India that’s open to the world,” said Rajan, who was born in Kolkata—formerly known as Calcutta—and raised in London.
This is a bigger shot across the bow of right-wing Hinduism than I can realistically convey. This is actually huge.
The Independent is the largest Diaspora newspaper in the world, and they have just rejected a 20-year-old right-wing Hindu renaming.
