Don’t You Dare Change that Name

Residents of Guildford Crescent woke up one morning last week to find out that they were actually not living down Guildford Crescent any more. At a ceremony held the previous evening graced by the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka this street had been renamed Dr. Premasiri Khemadasa Mawatha. Nobody living down the street was invited to the ceremony and even curious onlookers were barred from having a look at what was going on by heavily armed police officers. We heard at the Junction that the residents are outraged. It is not that they have any more love of Governor Frederick North, the Earl of Guildford, after whom this street was named, than our very own music maestro Premasiri Khemadasa. In fact we were told that many of them are great admirers of his work which they have had the privilege of enjoying at Sri Lankas leading theatre, the Lionel Wendt also located on Guilford Crescent. Since independence, it has become a trend to rename streets after national heroes or outstanding citizens. We at the junction and the residents of Guilford Crescent are not opposed to this movement if it was done in a proper and transparent manner for one, and if it does not inconvenience the citizens for another. However, in their small minds the powers that be, may construe this reaction as lack of patriotism. Now don’t get them wrong. It was conveyed to us very strongly that we should not misunderstand this opposition. They are also great supporters of renaming streets after national heroes together with defying international norms of human rights as pillars of our patriotism and anti colonialism. The residents’ opposition to the name change is on two counts only – i.e. that it should have been done in consultation with those living down the street (some for more than 30 years), and that name changes should be as minimal as possible since it causes inconvenience to both road users and residents. Those in power should know that when names are changed arbitrarily, no one uses the new names. Greenpath remains Greenpath despite its official name being Ananda Coomaraswamy Mawatha, the same goes for Duplication Road and Flower Road. So is there any point in naming established roads with new names? Perhaps they should rename roads in Kotte that have numbers for identification with the names of these worthies. Sri Jayewardenepura is the official capital so it would make sense. The Guilford Crescent residents argue that there should be some linkage between the chosen name and the road itself. They would have preferred a national hero who had some association with the road and/or has made a contribution to the welfare and well-being of Guildford Crescent. Although none of them could think of such a hero at such short notice, they felt that a public consultation would have provided a forum for putting forward names. The residents are not just outraged by the lack of a discussion but the fact that they were completely excluded from the re-naming ceremony and the only way they found was when they saw the name board being put up. On two occasions in the 1990s attempts to change the name of this road was thwarted by these civic conscious citizens on the above grounds. (One of these attempts was to make it Sir John Kotelawala Mawatha). These residents are now asking the following questions: 1. Is this renaming not a violation of democratic norms? 2. Does the President of Sri Lanka approve of this procedure for renaming roads especially since the Hon. President wants to build a better Sri Lanka? The residents of Guilford Crescent have not taken this lightly and decided to take action by lodging a complaint at the Cinnamon Gardens Police station. They are also writing a petition (they have already collected about 30 signatures) to the Western Provincial Council which was responsible for the name change. Of course, these residents are a pragmatic lot. They are aware that whether they live down Frederick North Street, Guildford Crescent or Premasiri Khemadasa Mawatha some things will not change. For instance the fact this road is closed as often as three times on certain days for some very very important persons (who consider their lives more worthy than those of the ordinary junction dweller – even in this so-called era of peace) causing much inconvenience and hardship to those living down the street who are trapped in their homes regularly. So eventually, they might just have to learn to live with it. But should they really? These residents have decided that they will not take these violations lying down and are prepared to give a good fight!! And well done to them on that! We all should learn a lesson from them.