The BJP MP from East Delhi Maheish Girri was honoured with the Shivaji Award of Courage for showing exemplary courage in changing the name of Aurangzeb Road to Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Road.” Girri was at the inauguration of a symposium titled ‘Relevance of Sufism Today’ and an exhibition called ‘Dara Shukoh, the forgotten Prince of Islam’ at the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts. Vice-President Venkaih Naidu was to inaugurate the event but had to skip due to the Budget session.
The Foundation for Advancement of Cultural Ties, run by French author and journalist Francois Gautier, and the Incredible Bharat Foundation were the primary organisers. Former President of Iranian Parliament Dr Gholam Ali Haddad-Adel was also present at the event.
In 2015, Girri came in the spotlight after he wrote to the Prime Minister and the Delhi Chief Minister for “correcting the mistakes made in our history.”
The New Delhi Municipal Corporation on August 28, 2015, eventually changed the name.
Minutes after receiving the award, the MP from east Delhi said, “Aaj ki bhasha mein Aurangzeb terrorist hai.”
He further added,
“Every time I would see that road, it would hurt me… Aurangzeb ruined our culture, killed innocent people when he was in power. How can the capital have a road named after him? I thought it was wrong, so I took steps to get it corrected… I got threats but eventually, the name was changed.”
Gautier, one of the organizers, spoke about the two brothers- Aurangzeb and Dara Shukoh. He said, “Aurangzeb believed in one religion, converted people and razed temples while the other was a Sufi scholar and practised enlightened Islam. Governments across the world, French, American, are looking for a moderate voice of Islam.”
Girri in conclusion said, “… such a dark phase of our history should not be brought to light. They belonged to the same religion, yet the two brothers were so different… Islam ki acchi baaton ko aagey lana chahiye.”