Kolkata, Jun 21 (PTI) The Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) has renamed Suhrawardy Avenue in the Park Circus area as Gopal Mukherjee Road, a decision hailed by Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari on Sunday as a correction of a “historical wrong” but criticised by the opposition as a “distortion” of history.
The civic body took the decision on Saturday, and a notification issued by the municipal commissioner was shared on social media by Adhikari on Sunday.
“Kolkata Municipal Corporation has decided that the road known as Suhrawardy Avenue in KMC area will be named and henceforth be known as Gopal Mukherjee Road,” the notification said.
Located near the busy Park Circus seven-point crossing, Suhrawardy Avenue is a key arterial road in the city.
Historical records cited by opposition parties state that the road was named after Hassan Suhrawardy, a noted physician and the first Muslim vice-chancellor of the University of Calcutta, and not after his nephew Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy, the last premier of undivided Bengal and later Pakistan’s prime minister.
Adhikari said naming the road after Gopal Mukherjee would honour a “true guardian and saviour” who had defended thousands of innocent lives.
“I commend the historic decision taken by the Kolkata Municipal Corporation yesterday, on the solemn occasion of Paschimbanga Divas, which would be instrumental in rectifying a historical wrong. Suhrawardy Avenue will now be renamed as Gopal Mukherjee Road,” he said in a social media post.
The decision drew criticism from Congress leaders Pawan Khera and Jairam Ramesh, TMC MP Mahua Moitra, as well as the CPI(M), which accused the BJP-led state government of overlooking historical facts.
Khera alleged that BJP leaders had confused Hassan Suhrawardy with Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy.
“These BJP leaders do not even know the difference between Hasan Suhrawardy and Huseyn Suhrawardy. Such is their ignorance,” he said in a social media post.
Ramesh said Hassan Suhrawardy had served as vice-chancellor of the University of Calcutta and was succeeded by Syama Prasad Mookerjee, arguing that the historical record was clear.
Moitra, in a social media post, said, “Suhrawardy Avenue was named after Hassan Suhrawardy, Vice Chancellor of Calcutta University before Shyamaprasad Mookerjee. What cheap political points is BJP trying to score? And Bengalis are buying this?.
The CPI(M) said the renaming was based on a “historically incorrect narrative” that the avenue had been named after Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy.
Citing records, it said the then Calcutta Corporation had resolved on March 8, 1933, to name the road after Hassan Suhrawardy, with the decision published in the official gazette on April 20 that year.
Calling the move a distortion of history, the CPI(M) demanded that the decision be withdrawn and the historical background of the avenue’s name be made public. PTI SCH SOM
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