The suggestion was greeted with a volley of protests by Congress and Muslim members in the Nashik Municipal Corporation (NMC) and by several Muslim organisations -- the Minorities Integration Movement, the Al-Nassem Foundation, the Khidmat Group, Kohinoor Friend Circle, Bajme Gulistan-E-Adab and the Harkat Manch -- which claimed in a series of meetings that the ground was originally called `Shahjahani Idgaah Maidan'. It was later changed to `Golf Club Grounds' by the British who used it for their golf games, they asserted.

The Muslim organisations also pointed out that an old mosque constructed during the reign of Mughal emperor Shah Jahan, still exists at the centre of the grounds, whereMuslims offer namaaz.

Congress corporator Mainuddin Kokani, who was among those who opposed the renaming when it came up for discussion at the general body meeting of the NMC on Friday, said the alliance government was ``playing with the sentiments of the Muslims''.

The mosque was built with funds provided by Shah Jahan when he visited Nashik (then known as Gulshanabad), Kokani said, speaking to The Indian Express today. Former mayor Vasant Gite of the Shiv Sena however begged to differ. The maidan was never known as Shahjahani Idgaah Maidan, he said, adding the Muslims were ``unnecessarily'' opposing it. Even after the Britishers left, Muslim organisations never made any attempt to change the name, he claimed.

But the protestors are adamant. ``We will organise morchas, rasta rokos and all democratic forms of protest to oppose the renaming move,'' said Kokani, ``as it would hurt the religious sentiments of Muslims.'' Ganpatrao Kathe, who moved the proposal to rename the ground said it had never beenknown by any other name than Golf Club Grounds and that it would be a suitable tribute in the memory of the martyr on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the country's Independence.

Kokani, on the other hand, felt Kanhere's memory could be honoured in a host of other ways. ``We respect Anant Kanhere, who killed the British collector, Jackson, at the Vijayanand cinema theatre in Nashik and was later hanged,'' Kokani said, ``but, if the present rulers want to do something in his memory, they could construct a memorial elsewhere and all Muslim organisations would help them do it.'' He suggested that the Sena-BJP acquire the Vijayanand theatre and turn it into a Kanhere memorial or even name it after the martyr. ``First, the Britishers changed the name to Golf Club Grounds and now the Sena-BJP is following their footstep in renaming it,'' he said, pointing out that even the Satpur area was earlier known as Sadatpur, but was changed by the British.

Another Congress corporator, Gajanan Shelar, suggestedthat the civic body name a major civic project in the city after Kanhere.

Thackeray, who was in Nashik on February 4 to campaign for the Lok Sabha polls, had said in his public speech held on the maidan that the name `Golf Club' was a sign of British imperialism.

Accordingly, the issue of renaming the ground was taken up by the NMC on Friday. Mayor Ashok Dive (an RPI corporator who was recently elected mayor by the Sena-BJP), announced that the proposal would be placed before a special committee for discussion.