Islampura is now Krishnanagar, and Babri Chowk has once again become Jain Mandir Chowk

Lahore (Pakistan) - Within the past two months, the Islamic names of nine public places in Lahore have been changed back to their original Hindu names or names based on British-era heritage.

Among them, Islampura will now officially once again be known as 'Krishnanagar', while 'Babri Masjid Chowk' has been restored to its earlier name, 'Jain Mandir Chowk'. Signboards bearing the restored names have also been installed. Interestingly, no radical group has come forward to opposing these changes.

In the second phase of the renaming process, original names may also be restored in Pakistan's Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces. The process of changing names began during the 1990s after the demolition of the Babri structure. At that time, Pakistan was successively ruled by the Governments of Nawaz Sharif, Benazir Bhutto and Pervez Musharraf. Now, the Sharif Government has decided to reverse and to restore the original names. No jihadi organisation has opposed the Government's decision.

1. Maulana Wajid Qadri from Lahore's Anarkali area near the Jain Mandir stated that Islam has no problem with temples or Gurudwaras. "In the 1990s, the name of Jain Mandir Chowk was changed to Babri Masjid Chowk. That was a political decision. We never referred to it as Babri Masjid Chowk. Our ancestors had given these Hindu names, and they too were Muslims. We must understand that their faith and loyalty were never affected because of this."

2. Professor Saad Malik of Lahore's Beaconhouse University said, "This is truly a welcome change. I have always called it Lakshmi Chowk because my father used to refer to it by that name. The Municipal Corporation may have changed its name in official documents to Maulana Zafar Ali Khan Chowk; however, for me and many others, Lakshmi Chowk is part of a heritage that has no connection with Zafar Ali Khan. Lakshmi Chowk is a name associated with generations."