‘It will stay Fort William for many years to come’
Times of India | 6 February 2025
Kolkata: The renaming of the nearly 250-year-old Fort William — the only fort in the world where not a single shot was ever fired — to Vijay Durg by the Narendra Modi govt found little favour among Army veterans and city's intelligentsia. Most are certain the colonial-era fort will continue to be called Fort William for years to come.
General Shankar Roy Chowdhury, the 18th Chief of Army Staff, expressed strong disapproval to the renaming of eastern India's most famous fort after another fort on the western coast. General Z U Shah, who was GOC Bengal Area and retired as the Deputy Chief of Army Staff, said Army veterans were scathing in their criticism of the BJP-led decolonisation exercise. "The renaming of the Indian Military Academy companies that were named after units that fought in World War II has been denounced by all Army veterans as an insult to the memories of thousands of Indian soldiers who fought and died. But the govt is continuing with its meaningless misadventures. The Fort William renaming will not resonate with the force. One cannot obliterate history by giving new names," Shah said.
City historians were also critical of the move. Historian Tapati Guha-Thakurta said the move was an arbitrary and aggressive form of nationalism. "The history of Fort William goes back a long way to the making of colonial Kolkata. The name survived 75 years after Independence without ruffling feathers. The renaming is not even based on the consensus of those who serve in the Army. There is no popular support. Renaming does not erase history. As far as Kolkata is concerned, Fort William will remain just that: FORT WILLIAM," she said.
Rosinka Chaudhuri, professor of cultural studies and director at the Centre for Studies in Social Sciences, Calcutta, pointed out erasing names from history did not erase history, although conquerors and kings had done it through ages. "We are no wiser today. Yet a name defines, suggests, and is evocative in a way nothing else is. To take away its name—even if it is a British colonial name—is to rob Fort William of its history and of the significance of the Indian flag flying on its ramparts. We drove the British out and put up our own flag on Fort William. Surely it is better to remember that than to call Fort William something else?" she wondered.
Historian Rajat Kanta Ray said renaming Fort William by adopting the name Vijay Durg would not wipe out the memory of British rule in India. "It betrays an inferiority complex. We should accept our past," he said. Paschimbanga Itihas Samsad vice-president Ashis Kumar Das also said, "It is just an eyewash and an attempt to confuse and trouble the public," said Das, RBU history professor.
While the renaming was quietly done through a memo in mid-Dec, 2024, there have been earlier demands to change Fort William's name. Two years ago, Rash Behari Institute demanded it be renamed ‘Rash Behari Fort Hall' as he was once employed at Fort William. Rash Behari Bose and fellow freedom fighter Bagha Jatin shared the dream of hoisting the Indian flag together at Fort William. There have been demands to name the fort after Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose as well.