In yet another move seen as part of New Delhi’s ongoing attempts to recast and normalise its control over occupied Jammu and Kashmir, the Modi regime has renamed the centuries-old title ‘Raj Bhavan’ to ‘Lok Bhavan’ through a fresh order issued by the Indian Ministry of Home Affairs.  According to Kashmir Media Service, an official notification released by the so-called Lieutenant Governor’s Secretariat said the change was made “in pursuance of a communication” from the Home Ministry dated November 25.

The order, signed by Principal Secretary to the LG, Mandeep Kumar Bhandari, states that the existing nomenclature of Raj Bhavan, Jammu and Kashmir now “stands modified” to Lok Bhavan, Jammu and Kashmir with immediate effect. Political observers in IIOJK say the renaming exercise is part of the BJP-RSS regime’s wider project to systematically alter occupied Jammu and Kashmir’s institutional, demographic and cultural character following the illegal revocation of Article 370 in 2019.

They note that changing official nomenclature is another symbolic step aimed at erasing the territory’s distinct political identity and imposing New Delhi’s narrative on the disputed territory.  Kashmiris maintain that such cosmetic changes cannot mask the fact that Jammu and Kashmir remains an internationally recognised disputed territory whose future must be decided through a UN-supervised plebiscite. 

Credit: Independent News Pakistan (INP)