Kolkata, June 21 -- The Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) has renamed the road known as Suhrawardy Avenue in the Park Circus area as Gopal Mukherjee Road.
A notification issued by the office of the Administrator and Municipal Commissioner on June 20 marked the occasion of Paschim Banga Divas.
Welcoming the decision, Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari described it as a historic step. "I wholeheartedly welcome the historic decision taken by the Kolkata Municipal Corporation yesterday-on the auspicious occasion of Paschim Banga Divas-to rename Suhrawardy Avenue as 'Gopal Mukherjee Road' in honour of the late Gopal Mukherjee," Adhikari wrote on his Facebook page. He said the move was not merely a change of name but a significant rectification of history.
"For a long time, a major thoroughfare in the heart of Kolkata bore the name of an individual whose role was linked to a history of partition and bloodshed.
Today, by rectifying that chapter, due honour has been accorded to Shri Gopal Mukherjee-a symbol of courage, self-sacrifice and protection," he posted, adding that it was time to recognise the "true heroes" of West Bengal and correct historical errors.
The renaming debate has a longer history. In 2017, a right-wing publication carried a widely circulated article titled "It's A Crying Shame That 'The Butcher Of Bengal' Has A Road Named After Him In Kolkata".
Kunal Ghosh argued that the renaming was based on a historical misunderstanding, saying Sohrawardy Avenue was named after Sir Hassan Suhrawardy, a noted educationist and former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Calcutta (1930-34). Mpost
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.