“No such decision has been taken as yet,” Capt R Muhammad Ali Ijaz said to Dawn on Monday, rattling the atmosphere in the capital city. The words hung over Lahore like a storm cloud that refuses to break. The city, renowned for its storied lanes, suddenly finds itself on the edge of a naming pendulum.
Saturday’s meeting of the Lahore Heritage Areas Revival (LAHR) had been a headline promise. Presided over by PML‑N leader Nawaz Sharif and his daughter, Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz, the council supposedly voted to reinstate the original names of several streets across Lahore. The Chief Minister’s office even issued a bullet‑point handout on March 20 to echo the approval. But that declaration, now, seems to have been swallowed by uncertainty.
Why the sudden retreat? Official accounts point to “extremist elements” that could strike if the renaming saga gets publicized. In 2023, a similar move in Karachi met with violent backlash, forcing the government to backtrack. The fear here echoes that past warning: push too hard on heritage, and you risk stirring the wrong kind of civic pride. Meanwhile, a coalition of local political factions, lured by the promise of clean slate, may also be rattling the overseers. The question remains: is clinging to colonial echoes cheaper than fighting for identity?
Even as the South Asian traffic‑jammed city posts banners of old names on social media feeds, the official narrative doesn’t match reality. Lahore’s top bureaucrats claim that “the matter is under discussion,” and a shadow of doubt grows larger with every new statement. Meanwhile, citizens who walk the bustling streets at dawn still hear the echoes of colonial misspellings spoken by drivers in their cars. The city sleeps with half‑alive slogans on the city wall—an uneasy compromise that straddles progress and preservation.
Local heritage groups argue that restoring historic names does more than look pretty. It offers a living link to pre‑colonial and Mughal eras, reinforcing Lahore’s identity as a cultural hub. Meanwhile, activists warn that the act of naming is a powerful political tool that can decide who gets remembered. Are the current hesitations about renaming driven by fear of backlash, or by a deeper battle for who gets to claim the city’s past?
In the early morning, as commuters clip through crosswalks, the debate pits slick, modern signage against older ink. The city’s heart beats on, but the streets might not mirror what the lights and captions call for. Will the plans for a historical restoration still trickle out of the corridors of power, or will Lahore simply keep its current labels—some call them a concession, others see them as a compromise?
