It has been announced to name a road after Gopal Patha in Kolkata. Suhrawardy Avenue in Park Circus area is being renamed as Gopal Mukherjee Road. Kolkata Municipal Corporation Commissioner Smita Pandey has issued a notification in this regard. Chief Minister Shubhendu Adhikari has thanked Kolkata Municipal Corporation for this decision. As soon as the BJP government came to power, it honored Gopal ‘Patha’ by naming a road after him.
In a post on social site Facebook, the Chief Minister Shubhendu Adhikari Said that with this decision the Municipal Corporation is correcting an old mistake. The official said, I praise the historic decision taken by Kolkata Municipal Corporation yesterday on the special occasion of Paschimbang Day, which will help in correcting an old mistake. Suhrawardy Avenue will now be named Gopal Mukherjee Road.
Time to remember the real hero… Shubhendu
The officer added: For decades, a major road in our city was named after someone who knowingly misused government power as a weapon and orchestrated the massacre of innocent civilians just for political gain. Renaming it after Gopal Mukherjee, who was a fearless soul and came forward as a savior to save the lives of thousands of innocent people, will ultimately restore historical justice by honoring a true savior and savior.
He said that it is time for West Bengal to remember the real heroes, correct them and honor them. He also shared a copy of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation’s notice, which announced the decision to change the name of the road.
Gopal ‘Patha’ was the hero of ‘Great Calcutta Killing’
BJP often talks about the ‘Great Calcutta Killing’ that took place in 1946. Gopal Mukherjee (19132005) stood against the killing of Hindus in 1946. He became the messiah of Hindus. They took up arms to protect the Hindus. Gopal Mukherjee came to be known as Gopal ‘Patha’ because he owned two retail mutton shops on College Street. In Bengali, ‘patha’ means a specific type of local goat, whose meat is considered particularly tasty and tender, making it suitable for sale as mutton.
However, there have been claims that Gopal Mukherjee, who was born into a Bengali Hindu family, was himself a butcher. He formed a resistance group to protect Hindus during the riots, and provided meat cleavers and swords to local youth to protect their community. He is often called the man who saved Calcutta from falling into the hands of the Muslim League.
Came into limelight with ‘The Bengal Files’
Bollywood director Vivek Agnihotri has also made a film on ‘Great Calcutta Killing’. There was an uproar in Kolkata around the trailer launch of that film called ‘The Bengal Files’. The then ruling party Trinamool was accused of obstructing the trailer launch of the film at a five star hotel on the bypass.
Ever since ‘The Bengal Files’ directed by Vivek Agnihotri started streaming on the OTT platform, the name of Gopal Mukherjee, also known as Gopal Patha, has become almost a household name in Bengal.
In August last year, the then opposition leader Subhendu Adhikari had participated in a march in memory of those killed in the ‘Great Calcutta Killing’. He was carrying the photograph of Gopal Mukherjee. After the procession, he unveiled the statue of Gopal Mukherjee in Alipore.
Hindus were protected in the riots of 1946
On August 16, 1946, ’16 August’ was declared Direct Action Day under the leadership of Muhammad Ali Jinnah. A group of miscreants were roaming on the streets with open hands and sticks. The slogan was given, we will take Pakistan by fighting. Indiscriminate killings took place on 16, 17 and 18 August. At that time every state had a Prime Minister (after independence he became the Chief Minister). At that time the Prime Minister of Bengal was Hussain Shahid Suhrawardy.
At that time, when Hindus were being massacred on ‘Direct Action Day’, the police remained a mute spectator. Gopal Patha along with his weapons team entered the field against the miscreants. He saved hundreds of lives. In 2005, that Gopal Patha died after a short time.
His role in taking up arms against the violent Muslim mob during the Direct Action Day initiated by the All-India Muslim League for mass massacre of the Hindu population in Kolkata in 1946 was much discussed in the film ‘The Bengal Files’. In the film, Gopal Mukherjee and his role during the violence against Hindus in Kolkata in 1946 were especially shown.
Input-TV9 Bangla/Pradipto Kanti Ghosh
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