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Thursday March 28, 2024

Renaming Lady Reading Hospital after Edhi isn’t a good idea

By Rahimullah Yusufzai
July 27, 2016

No person more deserving than the British lady who gave it her name

The resolution by a member of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly to rename the Lady Reading Hospital in Peshawar after the late Abdul Sattar Edhi isn’t a good idea.

In fact, many doctors, academics and political workers have expressed resentment over the proposal and some have rather unfairly blamed the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Islam (PTI) for instigating the move.

The resolution has been submitted in the assembly by the former PTI minister Ziaullah Afridi, who is under custody of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Ehtesab Commission and is facing at least four references on charges of corruption and misuse of power. As he has been expelled from the PTI, any resolution moved by him would reflect his personal view and not of the party.

Many other hospitals, schools, orphanages, women’s shelter homes, etc in the four provinces of Pakistan could be named after the selfless social worker Edhi, but his name should not replace that of an iconic figure who initiated the project to build the hospital in Peshawar in the 1920s. Also, one may well ask if Edhi’s legacy would be best served by just naming a public hospital after him or it would be better to follow his philosophy of life by being able to help the poor and the needy in every possible way.

We as a nation are good at naming and renaming places and institutions whether there is a need or not. We change names to rename them after political figures close to our heart even if they are undeserving. Non-controversial names are changed to controversial ones. The naming and renaming process begins with every change of government. In most cases, politicians are honoured by naming places after them while people who have made contributions in other walks of life are ignored.

The name of the Lady Reading Hospital has stood since it was named in 1928 after the wife of Lord Reading, the British viceroy of India from 1921-26. Many respected figures from different walks of life in undivided India and later in Pakistan have selflessly served the people and Lady Reading Hospital could have been renamed after them, but no such move was made over the past 88 years. A proposal to name it after Rahman Baba, the mystic Pashto poet who is quoted the most by the Pakhtuns, was reportedly shot down in the 1980s by the authoritative provincial Governor Lt Gen Fazle Haq. There is no reason why the name of the hospital should be changed now by naming it after Edhi or anyone else. In fact, as a matter of principle the Lady Reading Hospital or any other institution shouldn’t be renamed after a person who played no part in its establishment.

The hospital was named Lady Reading not because she was the wife of the then viceroy. Her husband was no longer holding the office when work on its construction began. The story goes that upon the retirement of her husband in 1926, Lady Reading travelled from Delhi to Peshawar to launch a campaign for building a quality hospital in the city. She donated Rs52,000, a princely sum at the time, to launch the campaign and asked others to donate for the noble cause. Once the hospital was built, it was named after her due to her pioneering role in setting it up. Since then, it is known as Lady Reading Hospital and even illiterate people have learnt to pronounce this English name in their own peculiar accent.

The reason for Lady Reading to take the lead in building the hospital in Peshawar is by now well-known. It is said the British lady was on a visit to Peshawar with her husband, Viceroy Lord Reading, and staying at the Balahisar Fort. This is a majestic place offering a magnificent view of the city and beyond. She too enjoyed the sights of the city from the heights of the fort and wished to have a closer look at it. A horse was arranged for her to ride to be able to see one of the oldest cities in the subcontinent. On her way back the horse had a fright and Lady Reading fell down, suffered injuries and fell unconscious. Her aides first took her to Agerton Hospital where the facilities were scanty and then to the Royal Artillery Hospital now called Combined Military Hospital (CMH) located in the Cantonment area where she received proper treatment. As Lady Reading had firsthand experience of the lack of decent healthcare facilities in the old city, she decided to lead the campaign to build a hospital for the civilian population. It was her gift for the people of Peshawar and the province.

No other person is more deserving than Lady Reading to have this hospital, presently the biggest in KP, named after her. The Lady Reading Hospital is part of the history of Peshawar and its name shouldn’t be changed.