The great renaming

The West Bengal government renaming the Suhrawardy Avenue as Gopal Mukherjee Road is of great significance. Critics might argue that the government was wrong to rename the street. They might argue that the road was named in favor of Lt Col. Dr. Hassan Suhrawardy. He was the uncle of Mr. Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy, ex Premier of Bengal, of course. Lieutenant Colonel Dr. Suhrawardy was famous as the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Calcutta at this time. While Mr Huseyn served as the Chief Minister of undivided Bengal during the tragic 1946 Calcutta riots and later became the Prime Minister of Pakistan, Lt Col Suhrawardy was never in favour of violence. A Gandhian in mind and thought, he was a connoseiur of art and an advocate of social harmony. Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari said that Suhrawardy Avenue honoured Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy, the Muslim League leader often blamed for the Direct Action Day violence of 1946. Adhikari described the renaming as a way to honour Gopal Mukherjee (Gopal Patha), who is remembered as a protector of Hindus during the riots. BJP frames the renaming as historical justice and a tribute to Gopal Mukherjee. Of course, the Trinamool Congress (TMC) and CPI(M) accuse the government of rewriting history based on “half-truths” and targeting the wrong Suhrawardy. The move coincided with Paschimbanga Divas (West Bengal State Day), adding symbolic weight. Bengalis remember Mr Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy’s legacy due to his role in the Great Calcutta Killings. However, Dr Hassan Suhrawardy’s contributions to medicine and education should not be erased. The renaming reflects broader tensions over memory, identity, and political symbolism in Bengal. This renaming based on mistaken identity risks erasing genuine contributions of Hassan Suhrawardy. But Dr Suhrawardy, we must not forget, was a British loyalist. On 6th February 1932, during the Convocation Ceremony of the University of Calcutta, 21-year-old revolutionary Bina Das had fired at the Governor. Dr Hassan Suhrawardy, who was present on the stage as the Vice-Chancellor, immediately leapt forward, grabbed Bina Das’s hand, and restrained her, thereby saving Jackson’s life and securing his title of “Sir.” Yet, when the Muslim League intensified its communal separatist movement and called upon its members to reject British titles, Dr Hassan Suhrawardy completely fell in line with his party’s directives. Selected by the Muslim League to be a member of the Legislative Assembly, he formally renounced his knighthood at the ultimate call of his party, proving where his foundational loyalties lay. His daughter later went on to become a prominent politician and diplomat in Pakistan, cementing the family’s absolute alignment with the Partition architects. On the contrary, Gopal Mukherjee’s role is remembered as a protector of Hindus during the communal riots of 1946. He organized the Hindus, irrespective of caste and region and led them to defend Hindus against the barbarities of the Muslim League. He gave clear instructions that no Muslim child, lady or aged persons should be attacked. Within a few days, Mr Surhawardy was forced to request the Viceroy to intervene, who sent in the military to restore order. By replacing the Suhrawardy name with Gopal Mukherjee Road on Paschimbanga Divas, Bengal has rejected a legacy of communal partition and state-sponsored violence, choosing instead to honour the local defender who stepped into the vacuum of law and order to save the city’s population from annihilation. But what should not be forgotten is that the hope of a United Bengal had among its propnents not just the Muslim League, but also the Communists and Congress’ Sarat Chandra Bose. It was a good intention, to unite Bengalis on a linguistic basis rather than divide them on communal basis. In her seminal work on Bengal Partition, Joya Chatterji wrote that the Bengali elites were anxious for the partition as they would be a minority in undivided Bengal and that they could maintain their hegemony only in a divided Bengal. It is also true that to oppose Congress, both the Muslim League and the Hindu Mahasabha came into an alliance in the Bengal elections of 1937. In fact, Dr SP Mukherji was a minister under the Krishak Praja Party- Muslim League- Hindu Mahasabha government in Bengal in 1937 under the premiership of AKF Haq. He later resigned after Haq supported the Pakistan demand of the Muslim League. He now began demanding a Bengali Hindu Homeland. Soon after, Haq himself resigned after accusing the British Governor and bureaucracy of favouring his rivals- Mr Huseyn Suhraardy, Mr Khwaja Nazimuddin and the Isphanis, of humiliating him and blocking his decisions. Tragically, the Congress could not prevent the anti- Congress coalition’s communal rhetoric. With ahimsa being scorned at by communalists of all religions, the blood-shattering Partition took place, which was fully supported by the elites- the businesspersons and their associates continued financing the Muslim League and the Hindu Mahasabha. Overall, the renaming of the road has brought about what can be considered as a case of misidentity, wherein because a person belongs to a particular family, his achievements are judged on the actions of his family members. The suave Dr Hasan is slighted by his nephew Mr Huseyn, as is common across families wherein members choose to have distinct beliefs and ideologies. It also points to an attempt to make the people to consolidate on religious grounds rather than provincial grounds alone. While this may inflame passions and also create rifts between communities, it also demonstrates the willingness of the government to have a discussion about the communal past of this glorious state of Bengal, something that cannot be avoided any longer. It also shows that religious violence and memories of the tragic past continue to resonate deeply among the masses and that they will not let any illusion of a cosmopolitan identity cloud their memories. At the end of the day, language alone cannot unite a people, especially when reality takes over the mind and the heart, blocking any sense of solidarity with people who treat each other as foes and still in daily interactions remain hostile to one another. However, what we can sincerely hope that peace will prevail.