What’s In A Name?
Pakistan seems to be obsessed with naming its streets and monuments after Muslim men – be it be Jinnah, Iqbal, Sir Syed or Agha Khan. Occasionally, one hears of roads named after Benazir Bhutto and Fatima Jinnah; But that’s about it.
It calls for celebration, then, that the streets are named after Naidu, Nehru and Besant – all women who hail from non-Muslim communities. Let’s hope that some passersby, and maybe children, hear these names and wonder how these women are linked to modern-day, Islamic Pakistan.
All these brave and heroic women have been deeply involved with the sub-continent and its history. Take Kamala Nehru, who died in 1937, while fighting for Independence. She was at the forefront of the Non-Cooperation movement. In 1921, when her husband was arrested on charges of sedition, she read his speech instead and was, in turn, arrested by the British.