LAHORE, Apr 26 : Pakistan’s Punjab government on Friday sought time from a high court on the issue of naming the Shadman Chowk here after freedom fighter Bhagat Singh.
The Lahore High Court (LHC) Justice Shams Mahmood Mirza was hearing a petition by the Bhagat Singh Memorial Foundation Pakistan seeking contempt proceedings against three top officials of the provincial and district governments for not complying with the court’s order about naming the Shadman Chowk after Bhagat Singh.
In 2018, the LHC ordered the government to name after Bhagat Singh the Shadman Chowk in Lahore, where he was hanged 93 years ago.
During the hearing, Assistant Advocate General of the Punjab government Imran Khan told the court that the government should be given more time for the issuance of a notification to name Shadman Chowk after the freedom fighter.
The petitioner’s counsel, advocate Khalid Zama Kakar, argued that a lot of delay had already been made in the matter.
The court accepted the request of the government law officer and adjourned the hearing till June 7.
The provincial and district governments committed contempt by deliberately not complying with the LHC’s order to change the chowk’s name in 2018.
Bhagat Singh, who fought for the independence of the subcontinent, was hanged by British rulers on March 23, 1931, along with Shivaram Rajguru and Sukhdev Thapar after being tried under charges of hatching a conspiracy against the regime.
Singh was initially jailed for life but later awarded the death sentence in another “fabricated case”.
Bhagat Singh is respected in the subcontinent not only by Sikhs and Hindus but also by Muslims.
Pakistan founder Muhammad Ali Jinnah reportedly paid him tribute twice during his speech in the central assembly, saying there had never been another brave person in the subcontinent like Bhagat Singh.
Imtiaz Rasheed Qureshi, Chairman of Bhagat Singh Memorial Foundation Pakistan, stated Bhagat Singh was a freedom fighter of the subcontinent and gave his life along with his companions for the cause of freedom.
“It will be in the interest of justice to name Shadman Chowk after Bhagat Singh and also install his statue at the square to inspire the people of Pakistan and the world,” he said, adding that in neighbouring India, there were many roads and thoroughfares named after Muslim rulers such as Akbar Road, Shahjahan Road and Bahadur Shah Road. (PTI)
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