Flanked by residences on two of its sides, the stretch was named after King Jr. in 1986.

King III, who is visiting different cities in India to commemorate 50 years of his father’s historic visit to the country, said: “It is a great honour to be here. This tribute to my father inspires me to work more diligently for making his dream a reality. I want to come here again and again as the city inspires me.”

King Jr had said that he left India more convinced of non-violent resistance being the most potent weapon available to the oppressed people in their struggle for freedom, King III said.

The street, earlier known Upper Wood Street, was renamed after the Road Renaming Committee decided to honour the dreams of three persons — Rishi Arabindo Ghosh, Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King. Since there was no memorial for Martin Luther King (junior) in the city, the committee chose to rename the stretch in his name.

“We decided to rename the stretch as Martin Luther King Sarani on our own to pay homage to the great American philosopher who fought against racial discrimination throughout his life as we were researching on the dreams of the three great personalities who contributed a lot to make the city flourish,” said Amalendu Dey, chairman, Road Renaming Committee.