While security officials claim to have foiled a militant plan to target Ghulam Nabi Azad at the inauguration of a government hospital in Sopore on Wednesday, the Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister is in another mess — over the naming of the 200-bed hospital.When the foundation stone of the hospital that is being built at a cost of Rs 56 crore was laid almost 25 years ago by the Farooq Abdullah regime, the signboard carried the name of the late separatist leader Sofi Mohd Akbar. In fact, during the run-up to the inauguration, there was much talk about how Azad would inaugurate the first-ever government institution in the state named after a separatist leader, that too in the traditional militant stronghold of Sopore. However, when Azad finally cut the ribbon on Wednesday, the plaque just read ‘Sub-District Hospital, Sopore’. Not only was Akbar’s name missing, everybody insisted there was no plan to name the hospital after him. This is despite the fact that some signboards at the entrance still carry the name Sofi Mohammad Akbar Hospital.Sources in the Health Department said the change was made in the name to avoid any backlash from mainstream leaders. “The Government didn’t want any controversy at the inaugural ceremony, and that is why they didn’t write any other name on the inaugural plaque,” said a source.Health Department officials were quiet on the issue. “I don’t know anything about it. I don’t want to talk about it,” Kashmir’s Director, Health and Medical Education, Dr Muzaffar Ahmad told The Indian Express. “You contact the CMO (Chief Medical Officer) and he can clarify this.”CMO, Baramulla, Dr Ghulam Jeelani Zargar, however, says Sofi Mohammad Akbar doesn’t find any mention in the official records of the hospital. “Naming the hospital after Akbar was only a proposal,” said the CMO. “Officially, the hospital hasn’t been given any name. The hospital is still under construction and a name would be given afterwards.”However, Sopore residents won’t have any of this, particularly as Akbar was a resident of the area. “There is a lot of resentment against it. We are planning a strategy to protest against this decision,” said President, Sopore Traders Federation, Ghulam Nabi Khan. “In 1984, at a public gathering, then chief minister Farooq Abdullah named the hospital as Sofi Mohammad Akbar. We can’t tolerate any change of name. We will fight for it.”Once a close associate of Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah, Akbar broke away from him after his 1975 accord with Indira Gandhi and founded the Mahaz-e-Azadi (Plebiscite Front). He continued to advocate the right to self-determination for the resolution of the Kashmir dispute.
