Prime Minister Modi, Netanyahu To Rename Delhi’s Teen Murti Chowk After Israeli City Of Haifa

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will rename Delhi’s Teen Murti Chowk and the Teen Murti Marg after the Israeli city of Haifa in the presence of Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Times of India has reported. Netanyahu will arrive in New Delhi today, becoming the second Prime Minister of the Jewish nation to visit India.

The Teen Murti Chowk, often misinterpreted as having a connection with Mahatma Gandhi, was built as a tribute to the three cavalry regiments from the princely states of Hyderabad, Jodhpur and Mysore which liberated the city of Haifa from the occupation of the Ottoman, German and the Austro-Hungarian empire during the First World War. The three bronze statues at the roundabout represent the three regiments who were part of the 15 Imperial Service Cavalry Brigade.

Haifa is now part of Israel. Efforts of the Haifa municipality in 2012 led to the recognition of the contribution of Indian soldiers, and their stories are now a part of the history textbooks in Israel. The city’s municipality is planning to organise a grand event to mark the day in 2018, and the mayor of the town invited the Indian government to participate in the function.

Every year, 23 September is celebrated as Haifa Day in India and Israel to pay respects to the brave soldiers who lost their lives in the battle and mark the end to 400 years of Ottoman control over the city.

The iconic circle and the road will be renamed as Teen Murti ‘Haifa’ Chowk and Teen Murti ‘Haifa’ Marg respectively. The proposal to rename the circle and the road was first presented ahead of Prime Minister Modi’s historic Israel visit.