**Application to name Shadman Chowk after Bhagat Singh filed
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Thursday, December 06, 2007
By By Afnan Khan
LAHORE
An NGO has requested the district coordination officer (DCO) to name Shadman Chowk after the legendary freedom fighter Bhagat Singh.
He was hanged by the British rulers at the same place for launching a physical movement against the Raj in 1931, The News learnt on Wednesday.
The letter written to the DCO by the director of Institute of Peace Studies, Saeeda Diep, said that Bhagat Singh was a revolutionary freedom fighter who launched struggle against the imperialist powers in this region. The imperialistic power had deprived the locals of their basic rights, the letter added. It also said Bhagat Singh was hanged by the Britons for demanding their rights in the city of Lahore.
It added that the centennial birthday of the bold freedom fighter was being marked across the globe especially in the subcontinent and that the government of Pakistan celebrate the year 2007 with the same zeal. The letter asserted that Bhagat Singh was one of the youngest freedom movement leaders who picked up arms against the Raj and fought for the equal rights to citizens without discrimination of religion or race. He was hanged at the Shadman area along with two other freedom fighters named Rajguru and Sukhdev.
So, the Shadman Chowk should be named after the legendary hero, the letter demanded.
**“Every nation honours its heroes and ours were people like Bhagat Singh who added force into the voice of freedom struggle launched by people like Dr Allama Iqbal, Maulana Zaffar Ali Khan, Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah and many others from different beliefs. We are marking the centennial birth anniversary of Bhagat Singh and it would be a great honour to at least name the place where he was hanged after him,” Saeeda Diep told The News.
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She also added that her organisation was working for peace in the region and visa free policy in the South Asia while having people like Bhagat Singh born this side of the subcontinent were an honour for us. Diep also asserted that Bhagat Singh was Che Guevara of the subcontinent who believed that people of the region would have to clinch their rights from imperialists and that was not possible without a physical struggle.
She also said that his execution at such a young age of 24 was a big tragedy but it sent the message to the youths of that time to pick up arms against the colonialists. “We have changed the names of so many places and areas in the city including almost each and every street in the Walled City and the practice is still continued then why canít we name a place after a person who died for the locals and was considered as their hero,” the director maintained. In this aspect, Director of Dayal Singh Cultural Forum, Dr Zafar Ali Cheema, told The News that the forum vigorously marked the 100th birthday celebrations of the young freedom fighter and martyr and held multiple ceremonies including an international poetry recitation focussing Bhagat Singh, a seminar, a special number of their magazine Punjab Rang and restoration of a book containing tributes paid by different Muslim and non-Muslim leaders to Bhagat Singh.
He also said that a Hindu writer had removed the names of Muslim leaders from the book while the forum obtained the original version and reprinted it in 2007.Cheema added that Punjab Governor Lt Gen (Retd) Khalid Maqbool has also announced to build a monument to honour the struggle of Bhagat Singh in his village near Jaranwala**.**
He also added that Allama Iqbal was Singh’s favourite revolutionary poet and Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah delivered a thorough speech in defence of Bhagat Singh in the British Assembly in 1930 while it was Maulana Zaffar Ali Khan who for the first time floated the title of Shaheed for Bhagat Singh.
Dr Cheema further said that Zaffar Ali also wrote a title poem after Bhagat Singh and declared him the son and the saviour of the land in the poem. However, Dr Cheema abstained from either supporting or opposing the notion of naming Shadman Chowk after Bhagat Singh while adding that the martyr was undoubtedly a hero who struggled and died for the people of subcontinent.
In this connection, DCO Lahore Mian Ijaz said the government has officially not received any such letter so far but the suggestion would be sent to the district council under the procedure for voting if Lahore district nazim and DCO agreed to entertain the request.
Bhagat Singh was executed by the British imperialists on March 23, 1931 for killing a British official at the age of 24 along with companions named. They were the leaders of Hindustan Socialists Republican Association and were said to be involved in different violent activities against the British Raj. Singh was born on September 28, 1907 near a place now called Jaranwala.