- Dilkash Lahore Committee violates rules by renaming Lawrence Road after a living personality
- Citizens considering filing a case against renaming of Lawrence Road
The City District Government of Lahore (CDGL) has been renaming important city roads of the metropolitan in complete violation of laid down rules allegedly succumbing to “political pressure”, Pakistan Today has learnt.
The Dilkash Lahore Committee was specially formed for naming the important roads, intersections, interchanges and underpasses after renowned personalities of the sub-continent to pay tribute to historical legends and heroes who played an important role in the Pakistan Movement.
However, the authorities concerned have allegedly succumbed to political “pressure” and have ignored the rules.
According to rules, the important city roads can only be named after deceased personalities of historical importance who have played an important role in the making of Pakistan or for that particular municipality. However, important roads of historical importance and significance have been named after living people.
According to insiders, concerned citizens are going to file a writ petition in the Lahore High Court (LHC) against naming the famous Lawrence Road after a living person. The grounds taken in the petition are the same already mentioned: an important road cannot be named after a living person.
While the concerned citizens also point fingers at the constitution of the Dilkash Committee tasked with naming city roads, saying that some members have named the roads after their relatives. “Naming city roads after living persons has neither legal ground nor moral justification and some members are recommending names of their relatives, such as in the Lawrence Road’s case,” a petitioner added.
Rafay Alam, a member of the committee, said that many members of the committee insisted that only new city roads (without a name) will be named, while historical roads should not be renamed at all. He said there was a detailed rule on naming city roads which mentions important role in the Pakistan Movement or any significant contribution towards the particular municipality. To a question, he said the CDGL authorities actually renamed Lawrance Road while the Dilkash Committee had no part in it.
DCO’s PRO Imran Maqbool said, “Naming the roads or places after living persons is not preferred because one can always commit something wrong or outrageous even in the last years of his life despite having played a vital role in any phase of their life (especially those having a controversial past).” He refused to comment on the issue of naming roads after living persons.
