Changing the name of a road in Kolkata has become a new issue of debate between BJP and Trinamool Congress. Kolkata Municipal Corporation has recently announced to rename Suhrawardy Avenue in Kolkata as Gopal Mukherjee Road. Bengal Chief Minister Subhendu Adhikari praised the Kolkata Municipal Corporation for naming a road after Gopal Mukherjee, linking Suhrawardy with The Great Calcutta Killing in 1946 and described Gopal Mukherjee as the savior and messiah of Hindus in The Great Calcutta Killing, who came forward to protect Hindus and from here the controversy started.
Shubhendu Adhikari After the claim, Trinamool Congress spokesperson and MLA Kunal Ghosh posted on X and claimed that he had not inspired him to name that particular road. Suhrawardy Avenue was named after Dr. Sir Hasan Suhrawardy, former Vice Chancellor of Calcutta University.
Kunal Ghosh told that Husain Suhrawardy was associated with the infamous Calcutta murders and massacres, while Dr. Sir Hasan Suhrawardy was not a human being, he was a well-known doctor and educationist.
.@SuvenduWB
I think KMC has done a great mistake.The related road is named after/ in memory of Dr SIR HASSAN SUHRAWARDY, Former Vice Chancellor of Calcutta University, an prominent physician and educationist. He was Chief Medical Officer of East Indian Railway. He joined https://t.co/wPZGHYO30j pic.twitter.com/tQF33ozd9v
— Kunal Ghosh (@KunalGhoshAgain) June 21, 2026
He wrote in X Post, "Hussain Sheed Suhrawardy, who was the Administrative Chief at that time and was linked to the 'Calcutta Killing', is the nephew of Dr Suhrawardy and both are not the same person. The Chief Minister should investigate this matter, direct the Kolkata Municipal Corporation to check the records. If by mistake, instead of the nephew, they punish his uncle, it will be unfortunate."
He further said that Dr. Suhrawardy, an eminent citizen of his time, had also served as the Chief Medical Officer of the East Indian Railway and was also a member of the Bengal Legislative Council.
In 1933, a notification of the meeting of Calcutta Municipal Corporation was issued. This notification said that Suhrawardy Avenue, – 191, Park Street, Corporation, Ward No. 60…. Circus Avenue PO (17), the Corporation at its meeting held on Wednesday, March 8, 1933, named the 'new (100 ft.) road built by the CIT from Park Circus to the junction with Kasaipara Lane (and falling to the north of the Park), on which stands the house of the Vice-Chancellor, Sir Hasan Suhrawardy.
It is common to confuse two people with the same surname, especially if they belong to the same family. Lieutenant Colonel Sir Hasan Suhrawardy was the first Muslim Vice Chancellor of Calcutta University. A Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons, he was knighted after saving the life of soldier and politician Sir Stanley Jackson from revolutionary Bina Das.
Sir Hasan Suhrawardy was the Vice-Chancellor of Calcutta University from 8 August 1930 to 7 August 1934. His nephew Husain Shahid Suhrawardy was the Prime Minister of Bengal from 1946 to 1947. Later he went to Pakistan and became the fifth Prime Minister there. This Hussain Shahid Suhrawardy is the main accused in the Calcutta murder case. Gopal Patha had opposed this massacre. Historians point out that the road at the center of the controversy was named after him long before the Calcutta riots of 1933.
However, something different happened with his nephew. Husain Sheed Suhrawardy, who was the Prime Minister of Bengal province between 1946-47, is considered the mastermind behind 'Direct Action Day', which made an open call to kill Hindus.
Suhrawardy's rule was held responsible for the Great Calcutta Killings and he was accused of openly calling for the killing of Hindus and rightly so, he is today called the 'Butcher of Bengal'.
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.For decades, a major pic.twitter.com/eUmZj1msE9
— Suvendu Adhikari (@SuvenduWB) June 21, 2026
Gopal Mukherjee, whose name is now on the road, was the 'messiah' that Hindus affected by the riots were hoping for. A butcher by profession, he is known as Gopal Patha, a name associated with the mutton shop his family once ran. Gopal Patha is remembered for his protest against the riots and the brutality of Huseyn Suhrawardy's regime.
Input-TV9 Bangla/ Pradipto Kanti Ghosh
Read this also- Who is Gopal Patha of the Great Calcutta Killings? By whose name Suhrawardy Avenue will be known
