Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Road formerly, Aurangzeb Road is a road in

New Delhi New Delhi (, , ''Naī Dillī'') is the capital of India and a part of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Parliament Hous ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...

. It lies at the north-east end, stretching from the 'Taj Mansingh Hotel' at the roundabout of Mansingh Road,

Shahjahan Road Shahjahan Road (Hindi: शाहजहाँ मार्ग / रोड) is an important road of central New Delhi, India. It stretches from the India Gate junction on the north side and to the Taj Mansingh Hotel at the junction of Mansingh Roa ...

, Humayun Road, Prithviraj Road and a road to Khan Market in the north-east. At the south-west end it stretches up to the crossing at Mustafa Kemal Atatürk Marg and

Safdarjung Road Safdarjung Road ( hi, सफ़दरजंग मार्ग) is a main road in New Delhi, India, named after the 18th century Tomb of Safdarjung near it. At the north end, the road stretches from the junction of the Teen Murti Marg, Akbar Roa ...

junction. It is home to several Indian billionaires such as

ArcelorMittal ArcelorMittal S.A. is a Luxembourgian multinational steel manufacturing corporation headquartered in Luxembourg City. It was formed in 2006 from the takeover and merger of Arcelor by Indian-owned Mittal Steel. ArcelorMittal is the second ...

's L N Mittal, K P Singh of DLF and Max Healthcare's

Analjit Singh Analjit Singh (born 11 January 1954) is the founder chairman of Max Group, a conglomerate with interests in life insurance, healthcare, and real estate. He is also the founder of Leeu Collection, an international collection of boutique hotels. ...

Junction

A single junction is formed at the crossing of Tughlaq road, land on this road is worth 500 Crore (roughly $80 million) per acre.

2014 Renaming

Dr APJ Abdul Kalam road was earlier called ''Aurangzeb road'', named so by the British after the Mughal emperor

Aurangzeb Muhi al-Din Muhammad (; – 3 March 1707), commonly known as ( fa, , lit=Ornament of the Throne) and by his regnal title Alamgir ( fa, , translit=ʿĀlamgīr, lit=Conqueror of the World), was the sixth emperor of the Mughal Empire, ruling ...

. In November 2014, Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee petitioned the

Prime Minister of India The prime minister of India (IAST: ) is the head of government of the Republic of India. Executive authority is vested in the prime minister and their chosen Council of Ministers, despite the president of India being the nominal head of the ...

to change the name of Aurangzeb road after Guru Tegh Bahadur, the ninth Sikh guru, as a tribute to him on his martyrdom anniversary observed on 24 November. Guru Tegh Bahadur was executed in

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders w ...

on the orders of the Mughal Emperor

, who was infamous for his religious oppression.

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

writer and activist of

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

i origin, Tarek Fatah, suggested renaming Aurangzeb Road to ''Dara Shikoh road'', after

Dara Shikoh Dara Shikoh ( fa, ), also known as Dara Shukoh, (20 March 1615 – 30 August 1659) was the eldest son and heir-apparent of the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan. Dara was designated with the title ''Padshahzada-i-Buzurg Martaba'' ("Prince of High Rank ...

, the brother of Aurangzeb, who was executed by the latter. ''Aurangzeb road'' was renamed to ''Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Road'' by NDMC on request of Maheish Girri ( BJP Member of the India Parliament for East Delhi) on 29 August 2015. ''"As a tribute to the People's President, I propose to rename the 'Aurangzeb Road' in New Delhi to 'Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Road'. In my opinion, this will be a great way of preserving his memories and legacy forever,"'' wrote Maheish Girri for changing the name of the Road. The Renaming of ''Aurangzeb road'' to ''Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Road'' also got criticism from various sections of historians and politicians, such as Sharad Yadav of Janata Dal (United),

Bahujan Samaj Party The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) is a national level political party in India that was formed to represent Bahujans (literally means "community in majority"), referring to Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, and Other Backward Classes (OBC), al ...

president Mayawati, Tariq Anwar of

Nationalist Congress Party The Nationalist Congress Party ( NCP) is one of the nine national parties in India. The party generally supports Indian nationalism and Gandhian secularism. It is the largest opposition party in Maharashtra and is also a significant party i ...

and

Asaduddin Owaisi Asaduddin Owaisi (born 13 May 1969) is an Indian politician, who is the President of the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM). He is a 4 time Member of Parliament (MP), representing the Hyderabad constituency in Lok Sabha, the lowe ...

AIMIM The All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen ( en, All India Council for Unity of Muslims) ( AIMIM) is an Indian political party based primarily in the city of Hyderabad. It is also a significant political party in the Indian States of Telangana ...

References

Roads in Delhi Streets in New Delhi

Road A road is a linear way for the conveyance of traffic that mostly has an improved surface for use by vehicles (motorized and non-motorized) and pedestrians. Unlike streets, the main function of roads is transportation. There are many types o ...

{{India-road-stub