The Islampur Road. Picture by Biju Boro

May 16: Residents of Islampur and Gandhi Basti have decided to move the Guwahati Municipal Corporation (GMC) to rename Islampur Road as Bahadur Gaonburha Road as a mark of respect to the great freedom fighter of Assam.

Islampur Road connects B. Barooah Road with G..B. Road at Chandmari. One of the oldest roads in the city, it is used by residents of Gandhi Basti, Lachit Nagar, Dakshin Sarania and G..B. Road. People, who are keen on avoiding traffic snarls on the main road, also take a detour through this road.

Sports lovers from East Guwahati also take Islampur Road if they want to enter Nehru Stadium, especially when the Bordoloi trophy tournament is under way. The stadium’s gates number nine and 10 are on this road.

Bahadur Gaonburha, the freedom fighter who was remanded in Cellular Jail in the Andamans for participating in the Revolt of 1857, is a symbol of religious harmony in the state.

“It is a good move and a rare example. However, we have to discuss the various aspects of renaming the road. There may even be opposition from certain quarters,” Imran Hussain, president of Islampur mosque development committee, said.

Hussain said an executive committee meeting of the Islampur Unnayan Committee would be convened soon to finalise the issue. “There is no doubt that the residents of Islampur are secular-minded. We can say on record that there has never been any tension or quarrels along communal lines in this locality. Even after the demolition of Babri Masjid, Hindus, Muslims and residents of other communities showed solidarity and co-existed in peace,” he added.

Several senior residents have already given their nod to the proposal of renaming the road.

The senior residents will formally approach the GMC commissioner after the executive committee meeting of the development committee. A senior GMC official, however, said that the corporation has already received verbal requests from a number of residents to rename Islampur Road.

“The road will be renamed after consultation with the residents. As the house numbering scheme has been completed, renaming the road should not pose any major problem for the department of post,” he said.

Sources said the GMC has been flooded with applications and representations from different localities to rename roads. The demands have increased ever since it was revealed that the names of several roads have not found mention in the GMC record. There are 3,600 roads and bylanes under the GMC.

A day before the Mother Teresa festival last year, the GMC had asked the Missionaries of Charity to “identify” a road in the city to be named after the nun who was beatified by Vatican recently.