Of late, drivers and pedestrians visiting and travelling through Lahore’s cantonment area will notice that many roads now have dual names. While the official names of the roads are mounted on blue plaques, there are now new shiny blue plaques mounted right under them. On those second plaques are written (in brackets) the names of the roads from the time of the British Raj. This new project has been spearheaded by the Lahore Cantonment Board and at best is a reminder of a point in time in history when Indians were more or less enslaved by the Brits i.e. the colonisers.
Aziz Bhatti Road was once known as Old St. John Road, Shami Road as Old Sir Hugh Rose Road and Sarfaraz Rafiqui Road as Old Cunningham Road.
While Pakistan, ergo the subcontinent’s, history cannot be forgotten despite the many atrocities it’s people were subjected to while being ruled by the British royals, the addition of the road’s name from the time of the British Raj seems more like a celebration. Pakistanis as it is already have a tough time overcoming post-colonial whiplash, perhaps a fresh reminder of our colonised history was not needed.
By the way, in case you were curious, Munir Road is the one that was previously known as Old Beckysmith Road.