Lahore:A plan by Lahore’s city district government to rename Shadman Chowk after Bhagat Singh has been shelved following objections from a retired military officer, according to official documents submitted to the Lahore High Court (LHC). The written response was submitted to the Lahore High Court (LHC), and serious allegations were levelled against the freedom fighter.
Against Bhagat Singh
In response to a contempt petition filed by Bhagat Singh Memorial Foundation Pakistan Chairman Imtiaz Rasheed Qureshi, the Metropolitan Corporation of Lahore stated that Commodore (retd.) Tariq Majeed, a member of the renaming committee, objected to the proposal. Majeed argued that Singh was not a revolutionary but a criminal, stating, "In today’s terms, he was a terrorist. He killed a British police officer, and for this crime, he was hanged along with two accomplices."
Religious, Cultural Concerns
Majeed's report further argued against naming the Chowk after Singh and installing his statue, citing religious and cultural grounds. He claimed that Singh was influenced by "religious leaders hostile to Muslims" and accused the Bhagat Singh Foundation of working against Islamic ideology and Pakistani culture. The report questioned, "Don’t the officials of the foundation, who call themselves Muslims, know that it is not acceptable to name a place after an atheist in Pakistan and that Islam prohibits human statues?"
Response from Bhagat Singh Foundation