My column last week suggesting that the missing walls of the Walled City of Lahore be rebuilt evoked an unexpectedly large response, from within and outside Pakistan. The queries compel me to write reasons why it is a profitable proposition for everyone.

The positive responses was a pleasant and moving surprise for a Lahori depressed by the way the ancient walled city has been treated by the ruling ‘trader-politician’ class, seeped as it is in you know what. My late father’s generation used to call them “the 47ers”, or in a happier mood as “the newly-rich claim class”. Sadly, the trader-politicians supported by our bureaucrats converted into a ruthless ‘money-making’ juggernaut. To overcome this evil, we should all try to understand why it is essential to rebuild our lost walls if we are to regain an entire way of life on which being a true Lahori was based.

In a way it is a deep sociological need, let alone a step back to regain a more humane society. It certainly is not an attempt to isolate the citizens living within the walled city from outside influences. That is just not possible. It is to promote the need for a tolerant and friendly people. Given our communal way of thinking, we have forgotten that we are among the most ancient of civilisations. When the poet Milton wrote his famous line which ran “Of Agra and Lahore, seat of the Great Mughal, with streets paved with gold” he was not way off the mark. For when these lines were written in 1670, Lahore then was larger than Constantinople (Istanbul) as well as Paris and London collectively. The Great Mughal ruled parts of Afghanistan, Pakistan, India and Bangladesh. Those days are lost, but our city has moved on.

Archaeological evidence of a 1959 dig inside the Lahore Fort indicate pottery carbon-dated at 4,050 years. Another recent sample from Mohallah Maullian inside Lohari Gate indicates pottery aged 2,350 years old. This being an undeniable factual reality, we know that traces of human habitation in Lahore existed when Harappa was at its peak. Then comes Harappa’s mysterious disappearance because of climate change and droughts and storms, very much like what is happening today. Amazingly Lahore was best placed to survive. It is a fact that Lahore survived. It remains a city that just refuses to die. That is how we must continue to view Lahore.

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There is an urgent need for scholars to research our city’s past, especially based on scientific data which only archaeological evidence within the walled city and the fort will throw up. It is time that we return to the factual sciences. Even if Vedic era texts are examined we see that in the epic Mahabharata the Battle of the Ten Kings fought on the banks of the River Ravi, at Mahmood Booti, written over 3,150 years ago for possession of Lahore, the capital city of the Vedic Aryan ruler of the Bharatas, indicates the city’s age. That is why archaeological work is critical here, and all the more that we must conserve what is left.

Given this scientific data we must seriously re-examine Lahore as part of an ancient civilisation. If you examine the archaeological map of our land, we see that important archaeological sites in Indian Punjab and in Haryana shows their dating at 3,000 to 3,250 years. It is clear that between the eastern sites and Harappa itself, on the safe mounds to the west of the Ravi, is Lahore. Even the Sufi saint Zanjani writing almost 950 years ago tells of Lahore being demolished time and again over the centuries by famines and invasions. “It is a city that is reborn time and again. Its walls are knocked down, yet they are rebuilt every time. It is a city that cannot die”.

This being the case we are today standing at a point where the walls have been completely demolished. This has to be reversed. But why rebuild the walls given that this ancient city has been converted into a trading-cum-warehouse nightmare. Is living here in peace is now out of the question?

Walls hamper movement, as well as regulate mobility. The gateways are bottlenecks for traders-politicians who do not like to be regulated. This is why we have to make up our minds whether we want a renewed walled Lahore to be a balanced mix of residential and commercial parts, or not.

If we want our historical city to be a tourist delight and not a horrid commercial jungle, then we have to recreate the conditions of normalcy. For that we have to have sociological peace and balance. For that we have to restore the very ethos of a civilised city. That is why a city protected by its historic walls, is critical. Money for tourism will yield many times more than the taxes our trader-politicians pay. The free ride will be over and the residents will be much better off.

But then what will happen to the massive trader class operating inside the walled city. It is an undeniable fact that over 95 per cent of these traders no longer live in the old walled city. They have moved out to faraway colonies. So what right do these trader-politicians have to convert the residential and historic spaces of the old city into congested trading spaces? It is an immoral situation and has to one day be resolved.

But then where do these traders go? There was a very sensible suggestion that a new ‘walled city’ be built on the other side of the River Ravi. This is where the new bus and truck stations have already come up. It makes sense, on mere logistical grounds, to move these wholesale markets to where they can work more effectively. Their clients come from outside Lahore and for their very sake such a move makes sense. They will be the gainers in every sense.

What will emerge if this happens? It will reduce traffic in Lahore considerably, it will help the wholesalers expand their business, and it will almost eliminate truck traffic, and certainly lead to improved public services to the people. Given this possibility we can have the new walls reappearing. The citizens within the walled city will find a safer place to live in. Historic buildings will be restored. Tourist traffic will shoot up. One research tells of an income generation equal to what these traders earn. Nothing but good will emerge for the residents of the walled city.

But let us assume such a scenario does not come about. Of this there is every possibility. Till then conditions will grow from bad to worse. Living in the walled city will become increasingly difficult. Our heritage will suffer. That is why new walls based on its original design is what will help to save the day of this city ‘that refuses to die’.