Pakistan: Punjab govt seeks time naming Lahore’s Shadman Chowk after Bhagat Singh

The Punjab government of Pakistan requested more time from the high court regarding the issue of renaming Shadman Chowk in Lahore after freedom fighter Bhagat Singh.

The Lahore High Court (LHC), presided over by Justice Shams Mahmood Mirza was hearing a petition filed by the Bhagat Singh Memorial Foundation Pakistan. The petition sought contempt proceedings against three top officials of the provincial and district governments for failing to comply with the court’s order to rename Shadman Chowk after Bhagat Singh, issued in 2018.

In 2018, the LHC had directed the government to rename Shadman Chowk in Lahore in honor of Bhagat Singh, where he was hanged 93 years ago. During the recent hearing, Assistant Advocate General of the Punjab government, Imran Khan, requested more time from the court for the issuance of a notification regarding the renaming. The petitioner’s counsel, advocate Khalid Zama Kakar, argued that significant delays had already occurred in the matter.

The court granted the government’s request for an extension and adjourned the hearing until June 7. The provincial and district governments faced allegations of contempt for willfully disobeying the LHC’s order to change the chowk’s name in 2018.

Bhagat Singh, a prominent figure in the struggle for independence of the Indian subcontinent was executed by British rulers on March 23, 1931 along with Shivaram Rajguru and Sukhdev Thapar, after being convicted of conspiring 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.