The Dilkash Lahore Committee’s Chairman Justice (retd) Khalil Ramday informed December 11 his committee members that the minorities were the most important part of any society and the majority should respect them and their properties. After digesting this rosy worded sermon, the committee finalised to scrap a plan to name one of the Lahore’s newly renovated roundabout (Shadman Chowk) after a freedom fighter, Bhagat Singh, who was hanged by the then colonial power – Britain – at the same spot almost a century ago.
Reason: A hastily formed group of religious extremists – Tehreek-e-Hurmat-e-Rasool challenged the move in the Lahore High Court. Why they challenged the renaming plan: only because Bhagat was a non-Muslim. Very well aware of courts’ generally prevailing favouritism for religious elements, no one dares go against the whims of these extremists. It clearly shows how the nuisance value of some extremist groups is now ruling the country.
It’s time for the Lahoreiites to come out and reject these elements; otherwise, be prepared to surrender for the expectedly upcoming demands to rename the buildings and other historical spots to OBL, Mullah Omar, Ajmal Kasab, Mumtaz Qadri, Naik Mohammed, Bait Ullah and Hakeem Ullah Mahsud – the list goes on.
It’s very disappointing that liberal forces in Pakistan are on retreat against the onslaught of extremism. If we can’t pay respect to martyrs who played a major role irrespective of their religious faiths in getting the Brits out of the subcontinent, we should be ashamed of our narrow mindedness.
Perhaps for this PML which claims to be inheritors of Quaid's legacy, they are either ill-informed or too dominated by the Unionist Party remnants, because all the roads renamed in Punjab are in memory of men who all their lives opposed Muslim League led by Allama Iqbal. There is a road adjacent to Zafar Ali Road in Lahore named after a former judge who rigged the 1962 elections to defeat Mohtarma Fatima Jinnah.
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