Kolkata’s Suhrawardy Avenue renamed after Gopal ‘Patha’; why is Opposition against it?

West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari has praised the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC)’s decision to rename Suhrawardy Avenue in the Park Circus area after Gopal Mukherjee, a controversial but significant figure in Kolkata history, calling it a correction of a “historical wrong”.

The Opposition, however, has slammed the move as a "distortion" of history, accusing the BJP of confusing the name of academic Hassan Suhrawardy, after whom the road was named, with Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy, the politician associated with the Calcutta Killings of 1946.

The civic body decided on Saturday (June 20), and a notification issued by the municipal commissioner was shared on social media by Adhikari on Sunday (June 21).

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“Kolkata Municipal Corporation has decided that the road known as Suhrawardy Avenue in KMC area will be named and henceforth be known as Gopal Mukherjee Road," the notification said.

Located near the busy Park Circus seven-point crossing, Suhrawardy Avenue is a key arterial road in the city.

Who was Hassan Suhrawady?

Historical records cited by opposition parties state that the road was named after Hassan Suhrawardy, a noted physician and the first Muslim vice-chancellor of the University of Calcutta, and not after his nephew Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy, the last premier of undivided Bengal and later Pakistan's prime minister.

Suhrawardy, a surgeon and a military officer in the British Army, served as a member of the Bengal Legislative Council, the chairman of the executive committee of the East London Mosque and held various public roles in his lifetime.

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Suhrawardy, who rose to the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel in his stint in the British Indian Army’s Indian Medical Service, was knighted in 1932 as Sir Hassan Suhrawardy. He, however, renounced all his titles a month before his death in 1946 in support of the independence movement that was gaining momentum in the country.

Gopal Mukherjee aka Gopal Patha

Gopal Chandra Mukherjee, also known as Gopal Patha, with ‘patha’ standing for goat, a reference to his meat business, was a Bengali Hindu meat seller, wrestler and strongman.

Often eulogised in Hindutva circles for his role in resisting the Muslim League’s violent attempt to bring then Calcutta into Pakistan during the Direct Action Day riots of August 1946, Mukherjee remains a controversial figure in Bengal history.

Notorious as a local muscleman who had hundreds of boys ready to do his bidding, Mukherjee on the day of riots is said to have mobilised forces and led a counterattack against Muslim rioters.

While he is often credited for saving Kolkata from becoming a part of East Pakistan, historians like Andrew Whitehead have disagreed, blaming him for dousing the “city in kerosene” when it was already in flames.

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While some historians have painted Mukherjee as a “saviour” of Hindus, his family asserts that he was not “anti-Muslim” and rather sheltered many Muslim families in his home in the 1946 riots.

Honour to a true guardian: CM Adhikari

Bengal Chief Minister Adhikari said naming the road after Mukherjee would honour a "true guardian and saviour" who had defended thousands of innocent lives.

"I commend the historic decision taken by the Kolkata Municipal Corporation yesterday, on the solemn occasion of Paschimbanga Divas, which would be instrumental in rectifying a historical wrong. Suhrawardy Avenue will now be renamed as Gopal Mukherjee Road," he said in a social media post.

Opposition protests move

The decision drew criticism from Congress leaders Pawan Khera and Jairam Ramesh, TMC MP Mahua Moitra, as well as the CPI(M), which accused the BJP-led state government of overlooking historical facts.

Khera alleged that BJP leaders had confused Hassan Suhrawardy with Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy.

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"These BJP leaders do not even know the difference between Hasan Suhrawardy and Huseyn Suhrawardy. Such is their ignorance,” he said in a social media post.

Ramesh said Hassan Suhrawardy had served as vice-chancellor of the University of Calcutta and was succeeded by Syama Prasad Mookerjee, arguing that the historical record was clear.

Moitra, in a social media post, said, "Suhrawardy Avenue was named after Hassan Suhrawardy, Vice Chancellor of Calcutta University before Shyamaprasad Mookerjee. What cheap political points is BJP trying to score? And Bengalis are buying this?.”

‘Historically wrong narrative’

The CPI(M) said the renaming was based on a "historically incorrect narrative" that the avenue had been named after Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy.

Citing records, it said the then Calcutta Corporation had resolved on March 8, 1933, to name the road after Hassan Suhrawardy, with the decision published in the official gazette on April 20 that year.

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Calling the move a distortion of history, the CPI(M) demanded that the decision be withdrawn and the historical background of the avenue's name be made public.