- Citizens believe the chowk should be christened after the Sikh freedom fighter, who was hanged at the spot, while clerics continue to oppose the proposition
A new ideological battle has surfaced in Lahore over the renaming of Shadman chowk. The debate is hanging in the balance whether the traffic circle should be named after the subcontinent’s freedom fighter Bhagat Singh, who was hanged at the said chowk, or its name should be retained after the name of a Muslim student who coined the name Pakistan in the 1930s, Chaudhry Rehmat Ali.
According to the New York Times (NYT), there is opposition to renaming the busy traffic circle in the city in honor of Bhagat Singh because he was not a Muslim.
Currently, however, a portrait of Bhagat Singh, a Sikh revolutionary who was hanged at the spot where the traffic circle is today by the British in 1931, has been put up. Singh was hanged at the site after a brief but eventful insurrection against British colonial rule. A certain section of society in the city sees it as a chance to honor a local hero who they feel transcends the ethnic and sectarian tensions gripping the country today.
There is also view that naming the traffic circle after Bhagat Singh would determine whether Pakistan passes the important test of inclusiveness. The effort of the pro-Bhagat Singh faction, has however, raised alarm bells among conservatives.
The circle was named after Chaudhry Rehmat Ali in 2010, and now almost three years down the line, news that it might be renamed after a freedom fighter is being greeted with both dismay and protest.
The NYT quoted Zahid Butt, the head of a neighborhood business association and a leader of the effort to block the renaming, as saying, “If a few people decide one day that the name has to be changed, why the voice of the majority should be ignored?”
For the record, locals still refer to the traffic circle as Shadman Fawwara Chowk.
It may also be noted that many of Lahore’s prominent buildings are named after non-Muslims, and now there is a growing effort to “islamise” the city’s architecture and landmarks.
“Since the 80s, the days of the dictator Gen. Zia-ul-Haq, there has been an effort that everything should be Islamised – like the Mall should be called MA.Jinnah Road,” the NYT quoted Taimur Rehman, a musician and academic from Lahore, as saying while referring to one of the city’s central roads being named after Pakistan’s founder.
“They do not want to acknowledge that other people, from different religions, also lived here in the past,” he adds.
Most Sikhs fled Pakistan soon after the partition from India in 1947, and a push to honor Bhagat Singh has been going on in Lahore for years.
The issue usually hots up on Bhagat Singh’s birth anniversary in September annually.
Traders of Shadman Market have threatened to go on strike. Warnings have also been issued by leaders of the Jamaat-ud-Dawa. Clerics too have voiced their opposition.
The Lahore High Court has said it would deliberate on a petition, initiated by Butt and a coalition of religious conservatives, to block the name change.
That was in November, and the case still awaits a hearing date.
The paper quoted Ajaz Anwar, an art historian and painter who is the vice chairman of a civic committee that is managing the renaming process, saying that some committee members had proposed a compromise i.e. renaming the circle after Habib Jalib, a widely popular post-independence poet. That move was rejected out of hand by pro-Singh campaigners.
The controversy threatens to become violent. On March 23, the 87th death anniversary of Bhagat Singh, Lahore Police had to break up a heated exchange between opposing groups at the circle.
Let the people of the town decide about the name.
There is nothing big about it. It is a local issue and it is their domain.
This is the way it will be decided in USA.
The pro Indian Pakistanis want to name it after a Sikh. Shadman Chowk is a perfectly good name and there is no need to change it.
What is pro indian about this move. It's absurd people like you why we have become such a hated country. Bhagat Singh was a Lahori. He fought for independence from British. He died way before Pakistan came into being. What exactly is pro indian about this move please explain?
ghazali is right and no need to name to Bhagat Singh.Indian Prime minister Manmohan singh was born in Lahore.Is he be called Lahori no ,never.He is Indian And he does not think to favor Pakistan.Study the history of Lahore rule,Sikhs were very cruel,unjustic,decoit and were opely dishonored Muslim Women and worship places.If Bhagat Singh name was carried on ,I will be tge first man to burn myself in front of this Chowk.Lahoris will never,never,never accept this rubbish Singh name.As Indians are very narrowminded and even they will never like to see the Muslim name in their country.These are Sikhs who helped to separate Jammu and Kashmir from Pakistan.
Younus Bhutt your ignorance is shocking as you seem to havent read a single page of Punjab's history: Maharaja Ranjit Singh is widely celebrated for being the one who pacified Punjab. He removed the discriminating "jizya" tax on non-muslims. He was the one who supported to build Mandirs, Gurudwaras AND Masjids. Ask a Punjabi (No matter Indian or Pakistani, Muslim or not) about "Sone-di-Chirri". During the Sikh reign people from all religions recognised their homeland Punjab as a "Golden bird". When mughal emperors brutally killed innocents in the name of religion, Bhai Kanhaiya Singh Ji cured wounded mughal soldiers.
Why does the Golden Temple, Darbar Sahib Amritsar have four Gates? Why is it open to anyone, regardless of faith, colour?
You do have access to internet, use it to get facts, knowledge on history. Dont misuse it to get radicalised.
Akin to Shahid-Bhagat Singh, Ghazali has put it into the right words: At the time Bhagat Singh SELFLESSLY fought for ppl, there was NO Pakistan. He saw the massacre of Amritsar, and took an OATH to take revenge. The brave lion did it for all of us. He could've lived a normal life. Without the struggle of countless freedom fighters, there would be no India, no Pakistan but "British Raj" only.
Te name must Chaudhry Rehmat Ali be awarded in plsce of Bhagat Singh as Sikhs ruined and dishonored the sacred of Badshahi Masjid.Moreover Sikhs were very cruel and were totally agaisnt Islam.Lahori does not mean to forget its misbehaviour to Muslims is not tolerateable.Yazaid was an Arabic citizen,but due to his bad actions he is not remembered with good name.Therefore the name of Shadman Chowk must be awrded to CHAUDHRY REHMAT ALI.
It's the Citizen's voice that should matter, try giving the PEOPLE the chance to solve their issues in the Democratic fashion.
Yes. But the problem is that fundamentalist, islamist persons dont want democracy in Pakistan. Walking past the point where this brave man Bhagat Singh was HANGED one should feel ashamed not paying tribute to him. Those men of honour were not fearing death and spoke "INQUILAB ZINDABAD" until the last breath on the gallows…. Driving past this chowk, imagine: Many years ago, on March 23rd 1931 freedom fighters gave their lives on THIS chowk
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