Mirza Ghalib gets road crossing in Agra named after him

A busy road crossing on the Mahatma Gandhi Road in Agra is to be named after Mirza Ghalib, the doyen of Urdu poetry who was born here in 1797.

District Magistrate Zuher Bin Sagir announced that the "Naal Band Chauraha" on the Mahatma Gandhi Road here would be named after the famous poet. Procedural formalities have been initiated and the municipal corporation chief Indra Vikram Singh has been told to complete the process speedily.

Lovers of Urdu poetry, late actor Farooque Sheikh and many activists had demanded that a proper memorial dedicated to the poet should be built and a road or a crossing should be named after him.

Two days ago, after a condolence meeting for late actor Farooque Sheikh, who only a fortnight ago with actress Shabana Azmi had presented the play "Tumhari Amrita", a high mound overlooking the Taj Mahal was named after Mirza Ghalib, a wish Farooque Sheikh had long cherished.

Taj Literature Festival organising committee members Harvijay Bahia, Ashok Jain and others have welcomed the naming of a road crossing after Mirza Ghalib.

They said that more programmes would be organised to promote Urdu "adab" and cherish the memory of Mirza Ghalib, Meer Taqi Meer and Nazir Akbarabadi, the three pillars of Urdu heritage, and all three associated with Agra.