Even as Palakkad Municipality in Kerala is witnessing a heated battle between the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Opposition councillors over the naming of a skill development for differently abled children after Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) founder K B Hedgewar, a fresh demand has been raised to rename a street called Jinna Nagar.
A BJP councillor moved a resolution on Tuesday, April 29, seeking to change the name of Jinna Nagar, a street in the town. It claimed that Jinna Nagar was named after Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan. The move was in the backdrop of the Pahalgam attack, a terror attack that took place in Kashmir on 22 April, which killed at least 26 people.
On Tuesday, April 29, the council meeting witnessed protests by councilors from both the Congress and Communist Party of India (Marxist) who raised placards with slogans like ‘Who is Hedgewar?.’ The protest resulted in scuffles and police had to be called in.
The BJP is adamant that the skill centre would be named after Hedgewar. Parmeela Sasaidaran, Chairperson of the Municipality, told the media that since the local body is governed by the BJP, the party will decide the names for the buildings built during their tenure. “We will never go back from the decision,” she said.
Boban Muttamantha, district chairperson of Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC)’s cultural wing, said, since India has no rules for naming a building or a road, the political party that holds power in the local body can usually decide on names as they see fit. “What we can only do is express our disagreements politically. But while giving a name, they should follow the political decorum. The name should be one that can be preserved, and the next generation will know that person through this building or road,” he said.
Jinna street controversy
Sasikumar M, the BJP councillor from Ayyapuram East who is seeking to change the name of Jinna Nagar, a street in Palakkad’s Valiyangandi, wants it to be known after Chettur Sankaran Nair, the only Keralite who has served as the All India Congress Committee president. “We don’t need the Pakistan founder's name here,” said. “In the light of Pahalgam, the name of the person who was responsible for the division of India, will create a division among people,” he said.
According to Sasikumar, the street was renamed as Jinna Nagar in 1977, when the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) was ruling the municipality. “The original name of the street was Kalikkara street,” he said.
Boban Muttamantha said it is not appropriate to use Chettur’s name as a substitute for Jinnah. “If BJP wants to pay tribute to Chettur, they can do it with bigger projects, not this tiny road. This is like disrespecting him,” he said.
Saleenabeevi M, a CPI(M) councillor, said the street is known among residents as Jai Hind Street, not Jinna Nagar. She said the name Jinna does not refer to Muhammad Ali Jinnah and was probably named after a family in the area but could not provide evidence for the claim.
Abdul Salam, Saleena’s husband and a native of Valiyangadi, told TNM that the place is popularly known as Valiyangadi, Pattani street, or Jaihind Nagar, not Jinna Nagar. “I haven’t heard anyone mention this place as Jinna Nagar. We called it either Pattani street, Jaihind Street, or Valiyangadi. There was a board with the name Jinna Nagar when I was a child, now there is nothing that mentions it apart from boards of a few shops,” said the 58-year-old Abdul.
Mini Babu, a Congress councillor, said the controversy over Jinna Nagar appears to be a reaction to the Opposition's protest against naming the skill development centre after Hedgewar.
Municipality Chairperson Prameela Sasidaran told TNM that the discussion on the resolution proposing to change the name of Jinna Nagar will be discussed at the next council meeting.