Daily Times

Lahore has a vast history reflected in the city’s old historic buildings and mesmerising Mughal heritage. Historical monuments and buildings serve as visual reminders of the past. They bring the general public closer to the relics of various civilizations that had once existed. All Pakistani citizens, including Muslims, Sikhs, Hindus and Christians, have equal rights under the Constitution of Pakistan, as father of nation declared in his 11th August speech but then why change names of public spaces. Since 1947, several places that were originally named after British or Hindus, have been renamed. Even after several decades of independence, this seems to be a never-ending process.

Lawrence Garden has been renamed as Bagh-e-Jinnah due to the change of the name of the nearby library from Montgomery Hall to Quaid-e-Azam Library

Sadly, the culture of Lahore has changed with the passage of time. Several parks and monuments have been renamed to give Pakistan the image of a Muslim country.

Here, I will quote some of the examples like Kirshan Nagar being renamed as Islam Pura and Sant Nagar, as Sunnat Nagar and later Sandha. The Our Fall road was renamed as Jeelani Road. We all are familiar with Branthon Road, but its name too was changed to Nistar Road. Names of all surroundings streets of the area were also changed, Ram Gali to Rehman Gali, Kumharpura is now Ghaziabad, Queen’s Road has been renamed as Fatima Jinnah Road, Jail Road to Allama Iqbal Road, Davis Road to Sir Aga Khan Road and Jain Mandir, was renamed as Babri Masjid Chowk.

Few of us have heard that Tempbell Street has been given the name of the founder of Daily Nawai Waqt Hameed Nizami. Lawrence Garden has been renamed as Baghe Jinnah due to the change of the name of the nearby library from Montgomery Hall to Quaid-e-Azam Library. The historical Munto Park has been renamed as Iqbal Park and the Race Course Park on Lawrence Road has been renamed after Lt Retired Ghulam Jeelani Khan, who was the governor of Punjab during the government of Zia ul Haq as Jeelani Park. Interestingly, wagon, rickshaw and taxi drivers, street vendors, residents and pedestrians continue to use the original names of these places.

These are merely a few examples of historic monuments, whose names have been changed, but interestingly, the values and teachings of these great men and woman were never adopted nor did the names of these roads completely disappear because of people’s old association with these historic places. If these great people were alive, they would be disappointed by such tactics. Every government thinks that they can change their identity and history through these superficial measures and these steps need to be stopped and criticised.

One good step in this regard was taken by District administration chief Noorul Amin Mengal to change the name of C to Bhagat Singh Chowk to acknowledge the freedom fighter’s revolutionary spirit and his role in the movement against the erstwhile British rulers of the subcontinent.

Bhagat Singh was hanged in March 1931 in the Lahore Jail, which stood at the spot where the roundabout of Ram Gali was built later. No doubt it was a bold move and we should appreciate it. Sadly, every year when the civil society organizes a peace rally on this spot Islamic fundamentalists create problems. This needs to be stopped.

While talking with Liaqat Ali, a lawyer by profession but who loves to read and explore history says, “Changing the names of historic places will kill Lahore’s identity. These steps are wiping out the history and if all the roads are to be renamed after political people or with those who are not known to anyone then who will know about the significance of that place in the past”.

I hope that the Pakistan Tehreek e Insaaf (PTI) government, which believes in enlightened moderation, will not only curb this practice but will restore the old names.

The writer is a social and political activist based in Lahore. He has done his Maters and MPhil in Communication Studies.He can be reached at salmanali088@gmail.com, tweets at Salmani_salu.

Published in Daily Times, October 28^th 2018.