Mangaluru City Corporation (MCC) Postpones Decision-Making in Renaming “Lady Hill Circle”to “Sri Narayana Guru Circle” Till Next Council Meeting, sometime in October
Mangaluru: Mangaluru City Corporation during their Council meeting on 22 September 2020, among the 75 issues in the agenda to be taken up during the session, and one among them was the proposal of renaming of the Lady Hill circle to Sri Narayana Guru Circle (issue No 75 in the agenda, had decided to postpone the rename decision-making till next month’s council meeting. Prior to today’s session, MCC was supposed to take a decision on renaming the Circle during today’session, and since there were lots of objections raised by the management of Lady Hill Institution, PTA, Old-students, Rotarians, among many others, MCC Mayor Diwakar Pandeshwar said the topic would be discussed in the next committee meeting, and it was approved. (Ref The Fight Continues on Circle Renaming ! Catholic Sabha/Nuns/PTA/Rotarian’s Meet DC, Mayor & Commissioner )
Anyways, many people were happy when some print and electronic media had publicized that MCC that the proposal to change the name of Ladyhill circle will not be part of the agenda of today’s council meeting, and also that MCC has dropped the proposal in renaming the circle- which was far from truth. But on the other hand, the fight still continues on this issue, where Catholic Sabha-Mangaluru Pradesh Nuns, Parents Teachers’ Association (PTA) and Old-students of St Ann’s Ladyhill Victoria Girls High School, Rotarians had already met Deputy Commissioner Dr K V Rajendra, Mangaluru City Corporation Mayor Diwakar Pandeshwar and MCC Commissioner Akshy Sridhar, on objection regarding change of name of Lady Hill Junction/Circle.
President of Catholic Sabha-Mangaluru Pradesh-Rolphy D’costa, All India Catholic Union (AICU) president-Lancy D’cunha; Apostolic Carmel Sisters of Lady Hill School/PUC ( Sr Rosilda AC-Superior/Joint secretary, and Dr Ujwala AC-Principal of Lady Hill PUC; members of PTA P.T.A Vice President Rajesh Shetty and Member Vijendra Shetty, and Old-students of LH School, Rotarians, among few other concerned Citizens, on Monday 21 September met Deputy Commissioner Dr K V Rajendra, Mangaluru City Corporation Mayor Diwakar Pandeshwar and MCC Commissioner Akshy Sridhar, regarding the issue.
Prior to today’s council meeting, Senior BJP corporator Premanand Shetty, who is also the chief whip in MCC council had said the proposal of renaming Lady hill circle will not be included in the agenda, which was not true- since MCC had already printed a circular and the issue to be discussed was no 75 on the agenda. “We have discussed the issue and it is not easy to rename a circle/ road if it has a name. We can move a proposal if a circle or road has no official name. The town planning section has suggested scrutiny of the proposal through the standing committee. Further, if people object strongly for any such proposals, it will be difficult for the council to adopt a resolution. Hence, this proposal will not be part of the agenda in the next council meeting,” Premanand Shetty had said yesterday, but today, during the meeting, he never uttered a word, and cooly agreed to the postponement of the decision making in this regard till next council meeting.Bah humbug!
No matter how the things are moving ahead in this Renaming of Lady Hill , but it should be noted that Ladyhill school was started by Apostolic Carmel Sisters under the patronage of our Lady of Mount Carmel. Lady of Mount Carmel refers to Mary Mother of Jesus Christ. Catholics revere Mother Mary and it has religious significance also. Change of existing status quo will wound religious feelings of lakhs of Catholics residents of Mangalore City. Hence in the interest of maintaining communal harmony also it is just and necessary to retain the same name. In the said area, a large number of Catholics also reside. Now if the name is altered, it will hurt religious feelings of Catholics and also it will twist the history. Earlier in the year 2003 and in the year 2018, an attempt was made to change the name of Ladyhill Junction but because of the objections raised by the public, the said proposal was dropped. Hence it is unfair to change the name of the circle,now.
(Ref:Resolution to be made by MCC Renaming Lady Hill Circle after Sri Narayana Guru Opposed )
A large number of girls were being educated in the said school. The term Ladyhill assumes its importance mainly for the reason that girl children were provided education. As a mark of respect for women empowerment, everybody called the area ‘Ladyhill’. Thousands of women have benefited through education here. Hence historical significance of this area cannot be allowed to be changed, since more than 100 years the said place is called Ladyhill Junction/Ladyhill Circle. A bunch of citizens, who are the patrons, old-students of this School had requested the Mangaluru City Corporation not to permit any changes and maintain the status quo.
Many citizens want to keep the old street names because they have become a part of their identity. For many of us, street names are no more than simple signposts. Many experts believe it does. If nothing else, most of us say or type our street name on a daily basis, as we give our physical address over the telephone or enter it into a website. For most of us, it is our cultural capital, our cultural history. And it is observed in the breach – you most notice it when a street name is changed. It’s the same as a church or a temple or Mosque being knocked down: you may never have walked into that church/temple/Mosque, you may not be religious, and yet, to most of us, it is an affront, an insult. Some locals are really anal about what streets are called, others don’t care that much. Street names have substantial symbolic and historical value, and conflicts over the naming – and renaming – of streets have become a regular part of regime changes.
So, while the proposal of renaming Lady Hill Circle to Sri Narayana Guru- a philosopher and Social Reformer is put ahead till next month, it would be wise, that a compromise could be made in this issue, between the two parties involved , to avoid unnecessary trouble. Anyways, in the end who wins this battle, we will have to wait and see! Until then, all you fans of Ladyhill institution, join the fight and win the battle for a Good Cause! Long Live Ladyhill Education Institution and Long Live the LadyHill Junction/Circle!
THE CHRISTIAN COMMUNITY LEADERS HAD MET DC, MCC MAYOR, MCC COMMISSIONER, CONGRESS LEADERS IN THIS REGARD
The Christian community leaders have written a letter to the Commissioner and Mayor of mangalore corporation objecting the name change of Ladyhill Junction or Ladyhill Circle. In the letter addressed to these, the Catholic Sabha has detailed the historical significance of the name ‘Ladyhill’ and the sentiments attached to the name. The letter mentioned that the Apostolic Carmel sisters landed in Mangaluru from Beyonne, France and started its mission of education. In 1885 when Mother Mary Des Anges first Superior General came down to Mangaluru, local persons had requested her to open a school for girls. The area was hilly. In the said area St Ann’s Ladyhill Victoria Girls High School was started.
Large number of females were being educated in the said school. The term ‘Ladyhill’ assumes its importance mainly for the reasons that girl children were provided education. As a mark of respect for the women empowerment everybody called the area as Ladyhill. Several thousands of women have been benefited through education. Given the historical significance of the area the name ‘Ladyhill’ should not be allowed to be changed. For more than a century now, the place has been called Lady Hill Junction or Lady Hill Circle. Infact the said school was started by the Apostolic Carmel sisters under the patronage of our Lady of Mount Carmel. Lady of Mount Carmel refers to Mary the mother of Jesus Christ. Catholics revere Mary and which also has religious significance. Change of existing status quo would wound religious feelings of lakhs of Catholics residents in Mangaluru city. Hence in the interest of maintaining communal harmony too it is just and necessary to retain the same name.
There are educational institutions also which are run under the same banner and style such as Ladyhill Primary School, Ladyhill High School, Ladyhill PU School for more than 100 years. There is also a rickshaw stand and bus-shelter known as ‘Ladyhill rickshaw stand’ and ‘Ladyhill Bus Stand. Even the bus permits mention the name Ladyhill Junction and a number of buses ply through the Ladyhill junction. So also, the Karnataka Bank has been permitted to design, construct and maintain Ladyhill circle at Lady hill Junction for a period of three years as per its resolution of Mangaluru City Corporation dated 30.01.2020.
So also, as per Mangaluru City Corporation resolution No 98/2018-19 dated 28.02.2019 passed a resolution to name the road between Ladyhill Junction to Newchitra Junction as ‘Sri Gokarnatha Kshethra Rasthe’. In the said area a large number of Catholics reside. Now if the name is altered, it will hurt religious feelings of the Catholics and also twist the history. Earlier in the year 2003 and in the year 2018, attempts were made to change the name of Ladyhill Junction but because of the objections raised by the public the said proposal was dropped. Hence it is unfair to change the name of the circle.
The people who met all the above City officials are- Rolphy D’Costa President Catholic Sabha Mangaluru Pradesh (R); AICU President Mr Lancy D’cunha, P.J. Rodrigues, and Alwin Panir; Sr Ujwala S.C principal Ladyhill school Principal andSr. Maria Chetana A.C. President and members of various associations, committees and public.