Road rage | Politics of renaming a street in Bengal

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Soon after the BJP government renamed Kolkata’s Suhrawardy Avenue as Gopal Mukherjee Road, there was public outcry — and historical evidence — that the street was originally named not after the man whom the government blames for killings, but rather the first Muslim V-C of Calcutta University. Here’s why the renaming of the street marks a crucial moment in Bengal politics

Updated - July 13, 2026 02:27 am IST

An elderly resident near a signboard pointing towards the Gopal Mukherjee Road. | Photo Credit: Senjuti Sengupta

A blue and white metal pole, about 2.5 metres tall, with a freshly painted green coloured signboard stands at the edge of the street leading eastward from Park Circus 7 Point Crossing in Kolkata. Not more than a dozen houses stand on the left side of the street. On the right side is the Park Circus Maidan, which was the epicentre of the anti-Citizenship (Amendment) Act, protests a few years ago.

A lush growth of the green grass now covers the protest site while the hurriedly erected signboard reads ‘Gopal Mukherjee Road’, in Bengali and English. Before June 20, this road was called Suhrawardy Avenue. However, within six weeks of coming to power, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in West Bengal named it after Gopal Mukherjee, who ran a goat meat shop in north Kolkata and is considered to have “saved Hindus during the Great Calcutta Killings in 1946”.

This is not the first instance where a government of the day has renamed a street. Then why is renaming of Suhrawardy Avenue a crucial moment in West Bengal politics? That’s because even 78 years after the country’s Independence and the Partition of Bengal, the roles of Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy and Gopal Mukherjee, intertwined with each other, continue to dominate the political discourse of the State.

In the years leading to the 2026 West Bengal Assembly poll, the State witnessed a massive campaign mounted by the BJP and its allies glorifying Gopal Mukherjee. At the same time, they also invoked the legacy of Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy – a prominent Bengali politician who served as the last Prime Minister of undivided Bengal and later as the Prime Minister of Pakistan – and blamed him for the “massacre of innocent citizens”.

However, the road in question was not named after Huseyn Suhrawardy. Instead, it was named after his uncle Sir Hassan Suhrawardy.

“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,” read a single-line notification published by the civic body on June 20.

Calling the decision historic, Chief Minister Suvendu Minister said, “Finally restoration of historical justice will be achieved by honouring a true guardian and saviour.” Adhikari, the first BJP Chief Minister of West Bengal, also added in a social media message that “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”.

The Chief Minister was referring to to Huseyn Suhrawardy whom the BJP and its allies blame for the communal riots of 1946. But then the road wasn’t named after him.

P. T. Nair, known as the ‘Barefoot Historian of Calcutta’, in his book, A History of Calcutta’s Streets, explains how the street got its name. According to the book, “The new road constructed by the Calcutta Improvement Trust from Park Circus Junction of Kasai Para Lane on which stands the house of Sir Hassan Suhrawardy, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Calcutta, will be known as Suhrawardy Avenue.” The name was notified on April 20, 1933.

Nair gave a detailed account of the accomplishments of Hassan Suhrawardy, describing him as two-time Vice-Chancellor of University of Calcutta, distinguished Muslim medico from the point of academic attainments, a prominent member of the Bengal Legislative Council and its first Muslim to be elected Deputy President.

The historian also gave a description as to how Hassan got his knighthood: “It was during the days of his vice-chancellorship that Sir Stanley Jackson, the Chancellor of the Calcutta University and the Governor of Bengal, was attacked by a girl student during the convocation and it was Dr. Hassan Suhrawardy’s courageous and timely action that saved the Governor’s life. His Knighthood was a reward for this and was granted by a special communique by the King and not during the usual New Year and Birthday Honours’ Lists.”