Taxi drivers in south Kashmir’s Anantnag district have alleged that the government force personnel have been forcing them for a name change on the ‘Destination signs.’
It is a known fact that an overwhelming number of natives of Kashmir call the Anantnag district as Islamabad.
Speaking to The Kashmiriyat, a local driver from the district, who earns livelihood by driving his vehicle from Anantnag town to Mir Bazar as a means of public transportation, said that he was stopped by the government force personnel near Monghal (between Mir Bazar and Anantnag). He was taken down from his vehicle and forced to remove the destination board from his vehicle.
“They took me down, forcibly and then started abusing me. They yelled at me and said that it was ‘Anantnag’ and not ‘Islamabad.’ I was made to stand on the stairs of their vehicle for a long time. In the meanwhile, the destination boards were forcibly taken off our vehicles and burnt down,” the driver who wished to remain anonymous said.
He alleged that the armed force personnel abused several other drivers for having ‘Islamabad’ displayed on the destination board of their vehicles.
In 2010, a major controversy had erupted when the then Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister of Jammu Kashmir, Ali Mohammad Sagar referred to Anantnag district in south Kashmir as Islamabad.
Though the officials state that the militants made the name Islamabad mandatory in 1990, some also state that the name Anantnag was enforced upon locals.
“We have always called it Islamabad. The locals do not know anything about Anantnag. I fail to understand why is there such a massive outrage over a name,” he said, adding, “The forces warned us to not use the Islamabad name anymore or else they will not ‘Spare us'”.
Meanwhile a top government force official upon being contacted by The Kashmiriyat said that the issue has not come to their notice. “We do not know of the issue. I have no such information. In case such a thing has happened, the drivers should register a complaint with the local P.S,” the official said.
The town was founded by Islam Khan, the Mughal Government in the 18th century and he named it as Islamabad.
Meanwhile, in the ‘Valley of Kashmir’ by Walter Lawrence and ‘Jammu and Kashmir Territories’ by F. Drew, the said district has been referred to as Islamabad and not Anantnag.
Lawrence calls Khanabal as the port of Islamabad and mentions various types of shawls manufactured in Islamabad.
In the 1990’s locals had alleged that CRPF men shot dead the shopkeepers of the shops with the hoardings that had ‘Islamabad’ mentioned on them.
Anantnag is a Sanskrit word, which means plenty of springs. It has, among others, Verinag – the source of river Jhelum. There are springs in Mattan, Kokernag, Verinag and Achabal, which are tourist spots.
The town itself has number of springs, Nagbal, Sher Bagh and Malak Nag.