Uttar Pradesh school named after 1965 war veteran Abdul Hamid rechristened PM SHRI School

The Uttar Pradesh government has renamed Ghazipur’s Shaheed Veer Abdul Hamid Vidyalaya to Prime Minister Schools for Rising India Composite School Dhamupur, dropping the tribute to the 1965 war veteran Abdul Hamid, reported Amar Ujala on Saturday.

The move, ordered by the state education department, elicited outrage from Hamid’s family and the residents of his native Dhamupur village, who have lodged a complaint with the basic education officer.

Hamid, a soldier in the 1965 India-Pakistan war, died fighting the Pakistan Army’s Patton tanks in the Battle of Asal Uttar, one of the war’s largest tank confrontations. He was posthumously awarded India’s highest military honour, the Param Vir Chakra, for his bravery.

His grandson, Jameel Alam, claimed that the local community was not consulted about the renaming. He said the move was an insult to Hamid’s legacy.

However, Basic Education Officer Hemant Rao told Amar Ujala that the principal of the school had informed him that the name Shaheed Veer Abdul Hamid Vidyalaya found no mention in its official records. On the other hand, the name “Composite School Dhamupur” has been operational since April 2019.

Rao said he would look into the matter and that it was a “top priority” to honour Hamid.

The Prime Minister Schools for Rising India scheme, better known as PM-SHRI, launched in 2022 with the aim of upgrading…

Read more