Kolkata roads will not carry any Mughal or Pathan names, says Adhikari
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Kolkata: West Bengal’s capital city will not retain road or area names linked to Mughals, Pathans or oppressive British rulers, Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari said on Tuesday, June 23, amid a political controversy over the renaming of a major city road.
Speaking in the state Assembly during a discussion on the governor’s address, Adhikari announced the formation of a committee to review the names of roads and public places across Kolkata. He said the panel would examine existing names and consider suggestions from people.
The statement came after the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) renamed Suhrawardy Avenue, a prominent road in the Park Circus area, as Gopal Mukherjee Road.
The renaming sparked a debate in the Assembly over the historical background of the original name. Leader of the Opposition Ritabrata Banerjee questioned the move, alleging that history was being misrepresented.
Banerjee said the avenue was not named after former Pakistan Prime Minister Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy, who has been associated with the 1946 Great Calcutta Killings, but after his grandfather, Maulana Obaidullah Suhrawardy.
Historical records indicate that the road was named in 1932 after Sir Hassan Suhrawardy, a noted physician and the first Muslim Vice-Chancellor of the University of Calcutta. He was the uncle of Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy. The naming was carried out by the then Calcutta Improvement Trust.
Adhikari, however, rejected the opposition’s argument by referring to historical accounts, including those involving freedom fighter Bina Das, and maintained that names associated with Mughals and Pathans would not remain in Kolkata’s road network.
He said the committee reviewing road and public place names would be headed by Swami Pradiptananda, popularly known as Karthik Maharaj. Citizens would be allowed to submit suggestions, and only names linked to genuine patriots would be considered, he added.
Adhikari also said that apart from Sister Nivedita, foreign names would not be retained, while figures such as former President APJ Abdul Kalam, who are considered national icons, could be honoured if their contributions were properly documented.
The renaming of Suhrawardy Avenue has led to a political clash, with Congress leaders Pawan Khera and Jairam Ramesh, along with the Communist Party of India (Marxist), accusing the Bharatiya Janata Party-led government of overlooking historical facts.
Khera alleged that BJP leaders had confused Sir Hassan Suhrawardy, the physician and former University of Calcutta vice-chancellor, with Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy, the last premier of undivided Bengal.
The CPI(M) also criticised the renaming campaign, saying it was based on a historically inaccurate claim that the avenue had been named after Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy.
The issue remains a subject of political debate in West Bengal.