It is a matter of national shame that the insensitive authorities of
the Delhi Government have so recklessly renamed the fish market at
Ghazipur as Shaheed Ashfaqullah Khan Fish Market supposedly to honour
the memory of this great son of India and famed Urdu poet.

To set this right, we have created petition to the Chief Minister of Delhi and
requested her to rectify this horrendous faux pas ASAP.

This matter not only relates to the Urdu-speaking populace, freedom fighters
and concerned citizens, it is a  transgression on the sanctity of the
Indian nation which was formed from the blood and toil of such freedom
fighters and martyrs as Shaheed Ashfaqullah Khan.

The petition states that if  Delhi Government has run out  of
ideas to constructively and judiciously commemorate our martyrs,  poets
and intellectuals, it should at least refrain from making a  mockery of
their sacrifices and dedication to the cause of the nation.

Below is text of petition and do sign at

http://petitions.halabol.com/2013/02/18/case-shaheed-ashfaqullah-khan

Ms Sheila Dikshit
Chief Minister of Delhi
New Secretariat
IP Estate
New Delhi-110002

Dear Chief Minister,

On the behest of Anjuman  Taraqqi Urdu ( Hind)   I would like to bring to your notice an intriguing issue thatcan only be considered a matter of national shame as it not only shows an Urdu poet, and by corollary the entire Urdu community, in poor light but also runs the risk of provoking the ire of freedom fighters.

I am sure many concerned citizens like me would not like that the erstwhile
Murga Machli Market of the the Jama Masjid area (shifted to Ghazipur
area) should be named Shaheed Ashfaqullah Khan Fish Market. The fact
that it is located right in front of the Murga market is double jeopardy
which even a student of class V will testify. This supposedly to honour
the memory of a great son of India and an eminent poet of Urdu, the
national language! There cannot be a more apt example of myopic policies
and bad taste. It is even more surprising as this atrocity has been
committed under the auspices of an urbanized chief minister such as you
who claims to be a Dilliwali! To drive home my point let me quote a few
lines on the sights and sounds of Delhi, with reference to this market,
described in one of Delhi’s premier magazines Time Out:

‘If you are up for a more pungent olfactory sensation, dive into
Shaheed Ashfaqulla Khan Fish Market, created in 1999 in the sahdow (sic)
of a landfill as a replacement for the famously filthy Jama Masjid fish
bazaar. Around 4am daily, the trucks roll in with catfish and crabs in
water tanks, lobsters, tuna, mackerel, kingfish, prawns and hilsa on
ice.(Time Out on August 31 2012 9.51am, Time Out website, emphasis
added).

Do we want to pay homage to our national heroes with glowing
commemorations or shower them in a deluge of crabs, lobsters, tuna and
prawns? Is this the legacy we want to bequeath to our young generation?
This is surely nothing but a disservice to the memory of this brave
freedom fighter and martyr for the cause of the nation and also to Urdu
which has been a victim of linguistic genocide by the State in free
India.

Shaheed Ashfaqullah Khan should only be remembered as an Indian who was
an Urdu shayar par excellence, a brave freedom fighter and a martyr who
gave up his life for his country at the young age of 27. Therefore, it
will be a great service to his memory, if you rectified this grave faux
pas and reconsidered honouring his martyrdom in a more appropriate
manner befitting his stature.

I will be grateful if you could put right this bungle as soon as
possible and an acknowledgement of this note will be greatly
appreciated.

Sincerely,