CM X post: Suhrawardy Avenue becomes Gopal Mukherjee Road
Times of India | 22 June 2026
Kolkata: Suhrawardy Ave-nue in Park Circus has been renamed Gopal Mukherjee Road after ‘Gopal Pattha’, one of the key defenders of central Calcutta’s Hindu neighbourhoods during the Direct Action Day communal clashes of Aug 1946.
CM Suvendu Adhikari announced the renaming in an X post on Sunday, sharing a June 20 KMC notification coinciding with Paschimbanga Divas.
“For decades, a major artery of our city bore the name of someone who wilfully misused state power as a weapon, orchestrating the massacre of innocent citizens for sheer political gain,” he wrote, referring to Suhrawardy Avenue, which stretches from Don Bosco School to the Park Circus 7-point crossing.
“By renaming it after Shri Gopal Mukherjee, the fearless soul who stepped up as a protector-in-chief to defend and save thousands of innocent lives, finally restoration of historical justice will be achieved by honouring a true... saviour.”
Adhikari did not name Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy, the last Prime Minister of undivided Bengal who is also referred to as the ‘Butcher of Bengal’ for his role in the Direct Action Day clashes.
Historians said the thoroughfare was named after Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy’s uncle, Lt Col Sir Hassan Suhrawardy, the first Muslim VC of Calcutta University and a Fellow of Royal College of Surgeons. The road was named Suhrawardy Avenue in 1933, long before the riots.
“‘Hassan’ and ‘Huseyn’ may sound identical to many. But that subtle distinction carries immense historical weight,” said Kolkata historian Shankar Kumar Nath.
The Bengal BJP welcomed the move. In a post on X, the party said, “For decades, one of Kolkata’s major roads carried the name of a man widely associated with abuse of state power and the tragic loss of countless innocent Hindu lives during one of Bengal’s darkest chapters. That injustice is now being corrected.”
BJP’s X post reads, “By honouring Gopal Mukherjee, a courageous son of Bengal who stood firm to protect and save thousands of innocent Hindus during a time of unprecedented violence, Kolkata is paying tribute to a true hero, protector and patriot.”
The party said, “History cannot be changed, but historical wrongs can be corrected. This renaming is not merely about a road; it is about restoring dignity to our collective memory and ensuring that future generations remember those who defended society in its hour of need.” BJP, too, did not name Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy in its posts.
Trinamool Congress spokesperson Kunal Ghosh told reporters, “To punish the nephew (Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy), the KMC has punished his uncle (Hassan Suhrawardy). We have nothing against any road being named after Gopal Mukherjee, but a govt cannot rewrite history to blame someone for another person’s crimes.”
Santanu Mukherjee, grandson of freedom fighter Gopal Mukherjee, said, “We welcome the decision. It is indeed a tribute to his role as a freedom fighter. But we are yet to be officially informed about it by KMC or the govt.”
Pankaj Roy, principal of Yogesh Chandra Chowdhuri College and a former state convener of BJP’s intellectual and education cell, said, “The country was divided on religious lines. Gopal Mukherjee’s role in protecting many Hindus at the time of Great Calcutta Killings on August 16, 1946, cannot be denied. Naming a road after him is a tribute to the saviour of numerous Hindus in Bengal.”