New Delhi: Mustafabad, a locality in Northeast Delhi, and its newly elected MLA, Mohan Singh Bisht, have been in the news lately. But why?
The Tran Yamuna region (Northeast Delhi) witnessed horrific communal violence in February 2020, and Mustafabad grabbed headlines, of course for wrong reasons.
Now, exactly five years later, this area is once again in headlines, and the reason is the ongoing discussion about changing its name.
The idea to change Mustafabad’s name was raised by Bisht, the incumbent legislature belonging to the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP), before the 2025 Delhi Assembly elections.
With the BJP’s victory in the polls, he has revived the discussion about changing the name of this area, following the trend of names being changed in the saffron party-led Uttar Pradesh.
A brief history of Mustafabad
The area is located around three-four kilometers from Delhi’s Signature Bridge, and it came into existence approximately 50 years ago. The area was named after the Sufi saint, Mohammad Mustafa, whose tomb is located in Mustafabad’s cemetery.
In 1973, when the government acquired land from neighbouring Karawal Nagar village and settlement began, Mustafabad came into existence in its true sense.
During 1970s and 1980s, people from western Uttar Pradesh and some areas of Bihar migrated to Delhi in search of work and settled here.
Even today, the majority of the residents are migrants and run small businesses to manage their livelihoods.
In the 2003 assembly elections in the national capital, Mustafabad was part of Karawal Nagar constituency, but after the delimitation before the 2008 elections, the area became a separate constituency. Hassan Ahmed of the Congress party was elected as the first MLA from here.
Will name achieve something?
There is a new discussion among the residents of the highly overlooked and infrastructurally backward area about what will happen if the name is changed.
Social activist Shabnam Ansari, who lives in Mustafabad, says, “Changing the name will make only one difference: the issues of the local people will be forgotten for five years.”
She said Bisht has been elected from a party (the BJP) that now governs Delhi. “He should work on the area’s deteriorating conditions instead,” she advised.
Changing Mustafabad’s name to Shiv Vihar or Shiv Puri, she said, will bring him in the media limelight for a few days but it will not benefit the residents.
Lalit Sharma, a lawyer from the Shiv Vihar area of Mustafabad Assembly segment, said, “If the MLA was so concerned about changing the area’s name, why did they choose East Karawal Nagar instead of Shiv Vihar ward during the 2022 delimitation?”
“If Bisht ji is so keen to change the name of Mustafabad, why did not he change the name of Karawal Nagar, the constituency he represented as an MLA for 20 years? If Mustafabad has been named after a Muslim, the word Karawal also sounds similar to Karbala.”
He said the MLA is not bothered about the welfare of the area, he is more concerned about his own interests. “The Karawal Nagar constituency has remained in a state of neglect, and instead of working on improving Mustafabad, Bisht ji is now talking only about communalism.”
Sachin Sharma, a resident of Shiv Vihar and the head of the Karawal Nagar Sangharsh Samiti, supported Bisht’s proposal and argued, “When the area was named Mustafabad, the Muslim MLA, Hassan Ahmed, ignored the feelings of the majority Hindu society. The sentiments of the majority society in this area should also be considered. Even the cab drivers and Blinkit delivery people are afraid to come here. The area’s image was damaged after the riots. Changing the name of the area will improve its image and be beneficial for the people.”
Ali Haider, a young law student from Mustafabad, said, “There are no good schools in Mustafabad and health facilities. The area even lacks clinics. Hazardous open drains, filled with rots and wastes, criss cross the locality.”
He continued, saying he was born and grown up in the area, and even today, cleanliness is not properly maintained here. “If changing the name of Mustafabad will fix these basic issues and improve the future of locals, then it is a good decision.”
“Otherwise, recent name changed across the country, particularly in BJP-ruled Uttar Pradesh, has not benefited the people?”
The behind-the-scenes story, according to him, could be as follows: despite winning from Karawal Nagar in 1998, and later in 2003, 2008, 2013 and 2020, Bisht failed to deliver on every front – be it cleanliness or development. Sine the BJP grabbed power in Delhi after 1998, Bisht perhaps wants to become the hero of the BJP’s Hindutva brand bh suggesting the name change.
“The proposal to change Mustafabad’s name, in nutshell, is also linked to Bisht ji’s unfulfilled desire, which may have a chance to take flight this time,” he said.
Mustafabad constituency, which houses areas like Shiv Vihar, Kamal Vihar, Rama Garden, Rajiv Gandhi Nagar, Man Singh Nagar, Chandu Nagar and Babu Nagar, has a population of daily wage workers, artisans and very poor people involved mineal jobs.
They have high expectations from the government, but whether those expectations will be met and whether they will have access to schools or healthcare centres remains a big question. Whether the name change of Mustafabad constituency is more significant or not is a separate debate.