Kolkata, June 21 (IANS) Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari on Sunday lauded the decision of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) to rename Suhrawardy Avenue in the city’s Park Circus area as Gopal Mukherjee Road.
In a post on X, the Chief Minister said that, with this decision, the civic body was rectifying a historical wrong.
“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,” said Adhikari.
Adhikari further said: “For decades, a major artery of our city bore the name of someone who wilfully misused state power as a weapon, orchestrating the massacre of innocent citizens for sheer political gain. By renaming it after Shri Gopal Mukherjee, the fearless soul who stepped up as a protector-in-chief to defend and save thousands of innocent lives, restoration of historical justice will finally be achieved by honouring a true guardian and saviour.”
He added that it was time for West Bengal to remember, correct and honour the “real heroes”.
He also shared a copy of the KMC notice announcing its decision to change the name of the street.
BJP leader Keya Ghosh also shared the same in a post on X.
“In Kolkata, there was a road named after Suhrawardy called Suhrawardy Avenue. It shall now be renamed as Gopal Mukherjee Road. Suhrawardy — the man behind the 1946 Great Calcutta Killings. Gopal Mukherjee — the brave Hindu who resisted, fought and attacked the Muslim League and saved thousands of Hindu lives,” she said.
Since Vivek Agnihotri-directed The Bengal Files started streaming on OTT platforms, the name of Gopal Mukherjee, also known as Gopal Patha, has become almost a household name in Bengal.
People have been discussing his role in taking up arms against the violent Muslim mobs unleashed during ‘Direct Action Day’, initiated by the All-India Muslim League to carry out the mass slaughter of the Hindu population in Kolkata in 1946.
Mukherjee and his role during the 1946 violence against Hindus in Kolkata were portrayed prominently in the film.
Mukherjee (1913–2005) came to be known as Gopal Patha because he owned two retail mutton shops.
In Bengali, ‘patha’ refers to a particular type of ‘desi’ goat whose meat is considered especially delicious and tender, making it suitable for sale as mutton.
Although there have been claims that Mukherjee, who was born into a Bengali Hindu family, was himself a butcher, there has been no authenticated evidence to support that claim.
He organised a resistance group to protect Hindus during the riots, arming local youth with meat cleavers and swords to defend their community.
He is often referred to as the man who saved Calcutta from falling to the Muslim League, although this remains a debated narrative.
–IANS
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