HYDERABAD: A resident of Picket Bazaar in the Secunderabad Cantonment has written to President Ram Nath Kovind and Prime Minister Narendra Modi change the Board’s name to either Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Cantonment Board or Telangana State Cantonment Board.
He said the board was named after the third Nizam of Hyderabad, Sikander Jah (1803-26), during whose time the British East India Company was asked to move its army out of Hyderabad and into the cantonment area.
Jetty Umeshwar Rao, a social activist, who sent the request to rename the SCB, mentioned that on December 16, 2021, defence minister Rajnath Singh, in his speech at an event in New Delhi, told the Directorate General Defence Estates (DGDE) that the cantonment boards that were named after British soldiers and officers should be renamed after brave Indian soldiers and makers of modern India.
“The Pandit Sunderlal Committee Report estimated that between 27,000 and 40,000 persons had lost their lives in the violence that ensued in the aftermath of the annexation of Secunderabad. From the above it is seen that there should not be any consideration to sustain the name ‘Secunderabad’ and does not deserve the said name to be retained,” Umeshwar Rao said.
“Sikander Jah was a cruel leader and we should not have the name of such a person associated with our board. Early action in this matter by the authorities would be highly appreciated,” said Umeshwar Rao.
