After Mardan district government announced renaming a chowk in the city after ace Pakistani batsman Fakhar Zaman and the KP provincial government renaming a local cricket club after him, the federal government has announced to rename Pakistan batsman Ahmed Shehzad in his name as well.
“It is a tribute to the stellar performance of Fakhar Zaman that we have taken this decision,” said Marriyum Aurangzeb, information minister. “These aren’t meaningless renamings. Much like the chowk remains the same, as does the cricketing club, the renamed Ahmed Shehzad will remain the same, but the exercise is just a symbol, a token of our appreciation.”
The renaming is accompanied by problems that accompany all such attempts. “There will be some confusion,” said Hassan Akbar, a sports journalist. “For instance, now that there will be two players named Fakhar Zaman, so how will we know whom we are talking about.”
“But then again, if someone says ‘Fakhar Zaman made a quick century,’ we will immediately know which one is being referred to.”
Some attempts at renaming fail, caution other analysts. “Few people call Lahore’s Queen’s Road Shahrah-e-Fatima Jinnah; fewer still refer to Mall Road as Shahrah-e-Quaid-e-Azam,” said Akbar. “So, we might still continue to keep calling him Ahmed Shehzad, even though his official name would be Fakhar Zaman.”
