New Delhi, Nov 15 (PTI) Union Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Friday announced that the chowk outside Sarai Kale Khan ISBT here has been renamed after tribal icon and freedom fighter Birsa Munda.
The announcement that came ahead of the Delhi Assembly polls was made by Khattar as a statue of Birsa Munda was unveiled by Union Home Minister Amit Shah at the Baansera Bamboo Park near Sarai Kale Khan inter-state bus terminus (ISBT) in south-east Delhi.
The unveiling of the 3,000 kg statue of Birsa Munda marked the 150th birth anniversary of the tribal icon who spearheaded a tribal movement that started in the Bengal Presidency (now Jharkhand) in the late 19th century, making him an important figure in the history of the country's independence movement.
Sources in the Delhi government questioned the renaming exercise, saying the authority to do so was with the city's AAP regime.
Khattar, the Union housing and urban affairs minister, said Bhagwan Birsa Munda is venerated by the country's tribal community as he fought against the British rule for snatching away their natural resources.
"To preserve the memory of such an inspiring personality, especially for the youth, a statue of Bhagwan Birsa Munda was unveiled by Union Home Minister Amit Shah and the ISBT Chowk has been named after him," Khattar told reporters.
Sources in the Delhi government said the power to rename roads was with the State Names Authority (SNA) of the Urban Development Department.
"Changing names is the responsibility of the State Names Authority which is currently non-existent... The Sarai Kale Khan Chowk is situated on a road that comes under the PWD of the Delhi government. So, who gave the permission to change its name," said an official source.
Sarai Kale Khan, one of the busiest areas of the city particularly due to the ISBT from where buses ferry travellers to destinations across north India, has a medieval-era origin.
According to Volume III of 'Monuments of Delhi: Lasting Splendour of the Great Mughals and Others', compiled by Maulvi Zafar Hasan and first published in 1920, "The sarai of Kale Khan which was constructed of rubble masonry was originally surrounded by arched cells, with their outer walls crowned by battlements".
The sarai seemed to be one of those which are known to have been built by Sher Shah at the distance of a "Kiroh (nearly 3 km) on the road from Bengal to the Indus", it said.
"In each of these sarais, travellers, Muhammadans as well as Hindus, were entertained, at the public expense, by the order of the Emperor, and horse posts were established there for quick communication, so that news from Bengal reached him daily," the Volume mentioned.