Rethink renaming of Faridabad hospital: Malik to Haryana govt

Maharashtra Minority Affairs Minister Nawab Malik has demanded that the Haryana government reconsider its decision to rename the Badshah Khan Hospital in Faridabad after former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

Speaking at an event on Saturday in Mumbai to mark the 131st birth anniversary of freedom fighter Khan Abdul GhaffarKhan, also known as Badshah Khan or Frontier Gandhi, Malik said both Khan and Vajpayee are Bharat Ratna awardees.

It is not proper to remove the name of one for the other, the minister said.

The Haryana government in December last year notified the change in name of the hospital.

Malik said, ''The contribution of Frontier Gandhi to the freedom struggle against the British rule can never be overlooked. We have no objection to Vajpayee's name and it can be given elsewhere.'' The minister said people should unitedly demand that the name of the hospital after Khan be maintained.

The hospital was inaugurated by former prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru in 1951.