The move is seemingly an attempt to distance the place from its historical significance. The area was known as Lakshmi Chowk because it had a sculpture of the Hindu goddess Lakshmi.
https://twitter.com/ShirazHassan/status/1183617600028315648?s=20
The move has been opposed by people, with one social media user stating that the place’s legacy could not be erased, and new names could not be put in people’s mouths.
https://twitter.com/AhsanRiaz15/status/1183624010443214850?s=20
Another user opined that the names of places with historical significance should not be changed and we should not try to make roads, squares and cities ‘Muslim’ by changing their names.
https://twitter.com/005_saleem/status/1183643705141596160?s=20
People also expressed the fact that such changes won’t have any effect as people would keep calling a place by the name it had through the ages.
https://twitter.com/saaadmalikk/status/1183617982578212865?s=20
Another user deemed this move an attempt to restart the process of Islamisation that General Zia had started.
https://twitter.com/EmanuelSarfraz/status/1183374519765028864?s=20
Columnist Yasir Pirzada said that the place’s name should remain Lakshmi Chowk as that was the essence of Lahore.
https://twitter.com/YasirPirzada/status/1183641642089275392?s=20