Lahore: The Lahore High Court has extended a stay on renaming Shadman Fawara Chowk after Indian freedom fighter Bhagat Singh as the city district government failed to submit its reply.

Zahid Butt, a member of Tehreek-e-Hurmat-e-Rasool and president of Shadman trader`s union, had challenged the renaming of Shadman Fawara Chowk and the court had restrained the city district government from issuing an official notification in this regard during the last hearing, reports The Express Tribune. It was alleged in the petition that the government succumbed to the pressure of ``so-called`` human rights associations and decided to name the Chowk after Bhagat Singh. The petitioner maintained that the government ignored reservations of the locals and established a committee called ``Dilkash Lahore`` to decide the name of the said chowk. He further alleged that a strong Indian lobby and India-sponsored human rights activists were behind the whole episode and were forcing the government to change the name of the chowk. He requested the court to stop the government from issuing a notification about changing the name of the chowk.
The plan to rename the chowk had earlier been put on hold after it drew objections from "certain sections of society". The argument against renaming the chowk after Bhagat Singh was that since Pakistan is a Muslim country, its major roads and squares should be named after Muslims, not Hindus or Sikhs.
ANI