KARACHI: This city is the only one in the country to have honoured Pakistan’s sports persons with a network of roads and streets named after them.

Cricketers Avenue in North Nazimabad has many streets bearing the names of sports greats, such as cricket, hockey and squash legends Zaheer Abbas, Javed Miandad, Mohsin Khan, Ramiz Raja, Sikander Bakht, Wasim Akram, Younis Khan, Islahuddin, Samiullah, Kalimullah, Hasan Sardar, Shahid Ali Khan, Hanif Khan, Qamar Zaman, Jahangir Khan, Jansher Khan and many more.

The roads and streets were named as such by the late Dr Mohammad Ali Shah, the former sports minister of Sindh. In fact Cricketers Avenue leads to the Asghar Ali Shah Cricket Stadium on the road named Asghar Ali Shah Road. A big lover of sports, especially cricket, Dr Shah built the stadium, which he named after his father.

The late sports minister often called over various sports persons to his office or home to understand their issues. It was during these meetings with former Pakistan hockey captain Islahuddin Siddiqui, who already had another road named after him in Gulshan-i-Iqbal, that he said that stalwarts all over the world were honoured with places named after them and why more of something like that couldn’t be done here?

“Naming the roads was Dr Shah’s brainchild but I said to him that it would be so much better if such a thing could be done during a hero’s life,” said the hockey legend.

“That was when he asked for a list to be prepared of famous figures deserving of such an honour. In doing so he also called for area maps to mark the roads and streets that could be renamed or named after famous figures. It is not just sports persons, mind you, it is also literary figures, including poets, scientists and doctors,” he said.

Asked if there was any issue faced with the local bodies in naming these roads and streets, Islah said: “When one presents logic to bureaucrats, they usually don’t have a problem getting your point of view, and this happened to be a very good proposal. They also agreed readily. That’s how you see all these roads bearing our names today.”

Squash legend Jansher Khan said he lived on a road named after him in Peshawar but he wasn’t aware that there was one named after him in Karachi as well. “I would certainly like to visit North Nazimabad and see this road myself,” he said.

“I would also like to check the property scene there as I hear that the security situation in Karachi has really improved. I would love to own a home on that road, too.”

Then becoming a little philosophical, he said: “It is a great gesture by the government because it will keep reminding people about us and our accomplishments in sports. Maybe a child passes by the road one day and asks his parents who Jansher Khan was after reading my name there. Then they will tell him or her about me. So it will keep me and others like me alive even after I am gone.”

The roads in North Nazimabad that have been named after the sports persons begin from Ziauddin Hospital and lead up to Pahar Ganj. Sadly, the entrances to these roads and streets present a sad scenario today. There is a lack of cleanliness. People dump their garbage there and no one comes to pick it up. Some of the street signs have been painted over by spray paint, too.

Then perhaps because he was very unwell Dr Shah rushed into the project, which needed a little more research. His people could have taken care to get the name spellings correct. Younis Khan is spelled this way but his street sign reads ‘Younus’ with a ‘u’. Ramiz Raja is also spelled with an ‘i’ but his name has been written with double ‘e’, ‘Rameez’.

There are very few women sports persons there. One street is called ‘Kiran Street’. On asking it was revealed that it was to honour cricketer Kiran Baluch, who holds a world record for scoring 242 runs against the West Indies during a Test match at the National Stadium Karachi in 2004. When Kiran was informed about the street named after her a few years ago, she had requested that her full name to be put there, which is yet to happen. Perhaps the city needs another sports enthusiast like Dr Shah in the ministerial post for these things to be taken care of now.

Published in Dawn September 25th, 2016