West Bengal renames Suhrawardy Avenue after "saviour of Hindus" Gopal Mukherjee

West Bengal renames Suhrawardy Avenue after saviour of Hindus, Gopal Patha, triggers row

The Kolkata Municipal Corporation has renamed Suhrawardy Avenue after Gopal Mukherjee, or Gopal Patha, the saviour of Hindus during the communal killings after the Muslim League called for Direct Action in 1946. However, CM Suvendu Adhikari's post welcoming the move to rename the Kolkata road stirred a row. 

Few figures in Bengal’s history evoke as much debate as Gopal Mukherjee, also known as Gopal 'Patha'.

West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari on Sunday lauded the Kolkata Municipal Corporation's decision to rename a road currently known as Suhrawardy Avenue after Gopal Mukherjee, also known as Gopal Patha, a controversial but influential figure associated with the Hindu response to the Direct Action Day violence of 1946. 

However, Adhikari's post sparked a row as the road was named after Hassan Suhrawardy the academician, and not Huseyn Suhrawardy, the politician associated with the Calcutta Killings of 1946.

Calling the move "historic", Adhikari said the decision, taken on Paschimbanga Divas on Saturday (June 20), was a step towards correcting what he described as a long-standing historical wrong. "Suhrawardy Avenue will now be renamed Gopal Mukherjee Road," he wrote on X on Sunday.

Adhikari argued that one of Kolkata’s major arterial roads had for decades carried the name of a man who, according to him, misused state power and presided over violence against innocent citizens for political gain.  

The Chief Minister in his post said renaming the road after Gopal Mukherjee would help restore historical justice by honouring a "true guardian and saviour". "It's time West Bengal remembers, corrects and honours the real heroes," the CM added.  

The road also occupies a unique place in South Asian history. According to historical accounts, a colonial-era building on the avenue housed the provisional government of Bangladesh during the 1971 Liberation War. 

Before being handed over to the government-in-exile led by Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the building had served as the Pakistani Deputy High Commission.  

WHO WAS GOPAL MUKHERJEE OR GOPAL PATHA?

Few figures in Bengal’s history evoke as much debate as Gopal Mukherjee, popular as Gopal Patha.

'Patha', which means goat in Bengali, was a nickname Mukherjee acquired because his family ran a well-known mutton shop in Calcutta (now Kolkata).

To some, he was a hero who organised resistance and protected Hindus during one of the darkest chapters in Calcutta’s history. To others, he was a gang leader whose methods reflected the brutal realities of communal violence.

During the Direct Action Day riots of August 1946, large parts of Calcutta descended into chaos as communal clashes between Hindus and Muslims left thousands dead. 

In the midst of the violence, Mukherjee emerged as one of the most prominent leaders of the Hindu response.

Supporters credit him with organising local defence groups, mobilising Hindu youths, providing shelter to displaced families and widows, and helping save countless lives during the riots.

From August 18 onwards, Mukherjee is said to have led organised resistance against the attacks. Accounts sympathetic to him argue that his actions played a key role in preventing further massacres and in blunting the Muslim League’s political ambitions in Bengal.

When it had become clear that the League's hopes of bringing Calcutta into Pakistan were unlikely to succeed, League leaders eventually appealed to Mukherjee to halt the bloodshed. For his admirers, these actions cemented his reputation as one of the men who helped ensure that Calcutta remained part of India.