FORMER SUMMER CAPITAL COULD BE RENAMED

Simla, the former summer capital of British India, is likely to be renamed to free the town from the“mental slavery” of its colonial past.

The local branch of the BJP, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist party, wants to rename the Himalayan hill town established by the British in 1864, after the Hindu goddess Shyamala Devi.

“Before the British arrived, Simla was known as Shyamala,” Jai Ram Thakur, the chief minister of Himachal Pradesh, said. “My government will seek public opinion on the demand to revert to this name.”

Other right-wing organizations such as the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) or World Hindu Council, are also demanding Simla’s renaming.