Bisma Bhat
Srinagar, Mar 4: Come summer, Srinagar’s two busiest roads will be named after prominent personalities slain by suspected militants.
If all goes according to Srinagar Municipal Corporation (SMC) plans, Regal Chowk to Amira Kadal Bridge will be named after slain Rising Kashmir founder Shujaat Bukhari. Kashmir University (KU) to Lal Bazar road will be named after slain vice-chancellor Professor Mushir-ul-Haq.
Bukhari was assassinated along with his guards at Press Enclave in Partap Park on July 14, 2018. Prof Mushir-ul-Haq was killed after he was abducted by suspected militants in the nineties.
“Proposing a resolution for voting in the General Council of SMC to name/rename following prominent roads/chowks in Srinagar. Name road from Regal Chowk to Amira Kadal Bridge as `Shujaat Bukhari Road’. Name road from Hazratbal Chowk to Sadrabal/Lal Bazar as `Mushir-ul-Haq Road’,” tweeted Junaid Azim Mattu, SMC Mayor.
Mattu said he would be moving the resolution in the forthcoming SMC general council session for rechristening two roads. “I will propose both resolutions for voting as per the J&K MC Act 2000. More previously unnamed roads and prominent crossing will be named after historical figures who have contributed vastly to the city and our society at large,” he said.
Speaking to The Kashmir Monitor, Deputy Mayor, SMC, Parvaiz Qadri said the general council is scheduled to meet on March 9.
“If our Mayor has made any such proposal, it has to be passed in the general council. After the resolution is passed, the final concurrence will be given by the Housing and Urban Department”, he said
Post abrogation of Article 370, the central government has changed the names of many places in the Union Territory. Kashmir’s water supply department had been renamed as Jal Shakti department. Chenani-Nashri Tunnel has been renamed after Shyama Prasad Mookerjee, founder of Bharatiya Jana Sangh which later became BJP.
The renaming of the streets drew mixed reactions from the people with most of them suggesting names for other streets. “Thousands of pandits got killed in Srinagar. Let’s rename some of our Srinagar roads in their memory. The future generations may never forget the part of history where Muslims and Pandits lived peacefully,” tweeted Asma Malik.
