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New Delhi: A part of the famous Havelock Road in London’s Southall district will be renamed the Guru Nanak Road, announced the Ealing Council last week. The Havelock Road is named after British general Sir Henry Havelock who is known to have suppressed the Revolt of 1857 in North India.
The council, which is the local authority for the London Borough of Ealing that includes Southall, noted, “Following the decision by cabinet on 14 July to celebrate and commemorate the founder of Sikhism, Guru Nanak, it has been decided to make an order to rename part of Havelock Road.”
The statement, published Wednesday, added that consultations had taken place with residents and businesses directly impacted by the change as well as the Royal Mail and the emergency services.
Southall is home to a large Sikh community and Gurdwara Sri Guru Singh Sabha Southall, the largest gurdwara outside India, which was inaugurated by The Prince of Wales in 1997, is located on Havelock Road.
The section of the road to be renamed lies between King Street and Merrick Road, which includes the gurdwara.
The announcement was made ahead of the celebration of Guru Nanak Jayanti on 30 November and the new name will come into effect in 2021, following necessary procedures.
Also read: The religious and historical significance of Kartarpur Sahib gurudwara
Celebrating diversity
The move is part of London Mayor Sadiq Khan’s campaign, which began in June, to re-evaluate memorials, statues and public spaces that honour British colonialism in view of the global Black Lives Matter movement.
Councillor Kamaljit Dhindsa, cabinet member for business and community services, welcomed the change Wednesday and said it “reflects the importance of celebrating the borough’s diversity and is a timely celebration of Guru Nanak’s birthday on 30 November”.
On 10 June, when consultations for the name change were underway, long-standing MP for Ealing Southall Virendra Sharma had said, “As the Member of Parliament for Ealing Southall and a Councillor for 25 years before that I have often been ashamed the names of empire still pervade our streets. I have long campaigned for schools to teach more about our Imperial past, not just the great strides made but also the shameful thuggery and violence, names like Havelock belong in books, classrooms and museums, not on the streets to be celebrated.”
I welcome the wonderful news today from @EalingCouncil and @juliangbell that we are beginning to remove the name Havelock from Southall. pic.twitter.com/QrA7YKxZx7
— Virendra Sharma MP (@VirendraSharma) June 10, 2020
However, British lecturer Edward Anderson, who earlier faced flak on Twitter for his remarks about idlis last month, noted that the Ealing Council’s statement avoided mentioning the colonial past behind the original name of the road.
Here is @EalingCouncil‘s official announcement (which avoids mentioning anything about why it was called Havelock in the first place!) Great news. Congrats to @VirendraSharma @juliangbell and all others involved in campaigning for & effecting this change. https://t.co/bRQTukBNug
— Edward Anderson (@edanderson101) November 29, 2020
Also read: Rishi Sunak to Priti Patel: Why British Indians wield more power than British Pakistanis
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