A debate has begun over the announcement that a well-known Kolkata road, ‘Suhrawardy Avenue,’ is being renamed Gopal Mukherjee Road. A post by West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari welcoming the Kolkata Municipal Corporation’s renaming decision has added further fuel to the controversy.
Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy was the last prime minister of undivided Bengal province and later also became prime minister of Pakistan. He was the prime minister at the time of the 1946 riots known as ‘The Great Calcutta Killings,’ and a section of historians blame him for failing to stop the violence.
The road, however, was not named after him at all. The road, in Kolkata’s Park Circus area, was in fact named after Hasan Suhrawardy, as the noted Kolkata historian P Thankappan Nair documented, with sources, in his book.
Hasan Suhrawardy was a professor, diplomat and art critic, and the first Muslim vice-chancellor of Calcutta University. The renamed road is the site of the educationist Hasan Suhrawardy’s house, which now houses the library and information centre of the Bangladesh deputy high commission in Kolkata.
Hasan Suhrawardy and Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy were related as uncle and nephew. Many social-media users — and even some news outlets, in wrongly worded headlines — confused the two names. The controversy, however, began over Suvendu Adhikari’s post.
‘This is not just a name change but an important correction of history. For a long time, the heart of Kolkata has borne the name of a person whose role is tied to a history of division and bloodshed. Today, by correcting that chapter, due honour has been given to Sri Gopal Mukherjee, a symbol of courage, sacrifice and protection,’ was written on Suvendu Adhikari’s verified Facebook page.
It was clear that he was referring to the politician Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy. Gopal Mukherjee, after whom the road has been renamed, is himself also known because of ‘The Great Calcutta Killings.’ Hindutva groups present Gopal Mukherjee — widely known as ‘Gopal Patha’ — as a ‘protector of Hindus’ during the 1946 riots, while some have also tried to portray him as ‘anti-Muslim.’
In an interview with the BBC, however, Gopal Mukherjee said that, while he had indeed taken up arms to protect Hindus, he had also saved the lives of many Muslims at the time.
Why the government wants to rename the road
A year ago, the director Vivek Agnihotri’s film ‘The Bengal Files’ was released. At the time of its release, the then opposition leader and current chief minister Suvendu Adhikari said Kolkata should have a road named after Gopal Mukherjee, alias Gopal Patha. The director, Agnihotri, claimed: ‘There is a road named after a butcher of Kolkata, but none after Gopal Patha.’ He described Gopal Mukherjee as the ‘leader who saved Hindus’ from the Kolkata riots. Mukherjee had a goat-meat shop, which is how he got the name ‘Gopal Patha.’
Welcoming the Kolkata Municipal Corporation’s renaming decision, Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari wrote on Facebook: ‘Yesterday, on the auspicious occasion of West Bengal Day, I sincerely applaud this historic decision of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation to rename Suhrawardy Avenue as “Gopal Mukherjee Road” after the late Gopal Mukherjee. This is not just a name change but an important correction of history.’
Gopal Mukherjee, however, was not associated with the Hindu Mahasabha or any other Hindutva organisation; rather, he is known to have been close to Congress leaders. As he himself told the BBC: ‘I was close to Dr B C Roy (Bidhan Chandra Roy). I am of no party. I help people. I do not do party politics.’
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report