The 70’s and 80’s were a time in Pakistan when towns,
neighborhoods and streets still had anglicized names. Lyallpur and Montgomery
and Campbellpur were part of our geographical vocabulary, until they were
changed . Some names were so integrated into the vernacular that, despite a
concentrated effort to rename all such towns, Abbottabad and Jacobabad have
escaped change to this day.
In Quetta, my hometown, we had our fair share of streets
named after the British. We spent our lives going up and down Anscomb road,
McConaughey Road, Mission Road or Ingalls Road. One of the most beautiful
thoroughfares in Quetta was named Lytton road. This was the main street that
stretched from the Cantonment to Saryab. It was wide and lined with majestic
Quetta Ash trees. In local speak we referred to it as “thandi sarak” or the
cool road..this was a reference to its temperature and not its pop culture
status though, I would argue, that it was a pretty cool road in that aspect
too.
We never once questioned the identity of the people who had
their names associated with our homes. Were they heroes in our history? Were
they valiant warriors who had helped us gain our freedom? If they were such great figures deserving
homage decades after we had won our freedom from their countrymen, why had we
not read about them in our history lessons? I decided to start with Lytton. I
figured that he must be a great figure in Indo-Pak history to warrant the honor
of having our beautiful road named after him. As I researched him I found out
that, indeed, he was a prominent figure in the history of our region..just not
in the way I had anticipated.
Robert Bulwer-Lytton, the first Earl of Lytton, was the
Viceroy of India from 1876-1880. He was in charge during the great famine of
1876 which is said to have claimed 10 million lives, according to some
estimates. Lytton, during this trying time, arranged for an Imperial Assemblage
which was to proclaim Queen Victoria as the Empress of India. Historians have
documented that during these preparations, “nothing was too rich..nothing was
too costly.” At the climax of these
celebrations, a feast was arranged for over sixty thousand friends of the Raj.
It is estimated that just during the time of this feast, 100,000 Indians died
of starvation. To add to his impressive
resume of heartless governance, he also oversaw the export of a record 6.4 million hundredweight
of wheat to England during this time. Some historians have rightfully
called Lytton the Nero of India.
Even though the name “Lytton Road” was eventually changed to
“Zarghoon Road”, Lytton was not a man who should have been celebrated for a second
let alone decades after we gained independence. We shamed our struggles and our
sacrifices because we did not engage in the study of our history. Our
curriculum taught us about our heroes but ignored to teach us about the
villains of the subcontinents. Instead of reviling them for their atrocities, we
celebrated them for years. That, to me, is an egregious insult to every citizen
of the subcontinent. We need to rethink our way forward. This is but one
example that illustrates the gaps in our education. If we are not aware of our
past how can we plan our future?
