Colossal challenges ahead as Lahore’s monuments decay

The sudden collapse of Hyderabad’s historic over 250-year old Pucca Qila’s main entrance last Thursday, should sound the alarm for the so-called custodians of our historic monuments. It is yet another reminder of the fact that our past just does not interest us at all.

My mind rushes to the sudden collapse of the Lahore Fort’s north-eastern wall last year, a portion that does not interest our ‘culture custodian’ as tourists do not venture there. One would have thought that the very first duty of the Lahore Fort’s archaeology and culture ‘custodians’ was to strengthen the outer walls of this historic monument, and then move on to the amazing and beautiful buildings inside, important that they all are in their own right. Just to clarify that the work inside needs commendation.

In this piece let us skim through a few of the hundreds of historic buildings inside and outside the walled city of Lahore, all of which need attention. Probably the oldest structure is the simple Temple of Lav or Loh as Lahore means the ‘city of Loh’, inside the fort itself. In a way it is timeless because its origins are scantly mentioned in the Vedas. Why not work on it using archaeological studies of ancient times. Religion has no role in this, as tradition matters most.

After Mahmud, the Afghan invader from Ghazni, flattened Lahore, the oldest two pre-Mughal structures to come up inside the walled city are two very small mosques, they being the ‘Niwin Masjid’ and the ‘Sheranwali Masjid’, those original name was Khzri Masjid named after Hazrat Khizar, the patron saint of fisher-folk and seafarers. Mind you Lahore was once a major shipping port in the days before the building of highways and railways, let alone air travel. Both these monuments deserve immediate attention and restoration. The names of streets and lanes originally named after related trades need to be restored.

We know that the Badshahi Masjid and the Masjid of Wazir Khan are being worked on, and that some work on the mosque of Mariam Zamani has been undertaken. Mind you the Mughal empress herself was a major ship builder and operator, concentrating on Hajj travel. We must take this as a major game changer in Lahore’s history for thanks to her Portuguese connections spices were introduced to Lahore. Vegetables like potatoes and tomatoes, let alone chillies and other spices of South American origin, came to Lahore in Mughal days. Before that our dishes were made using yogurt with salt from Khewra and black pepper from Kerala in South India.

Just as I have mentioned food, that favourite Lahori pastime, we must never forget that with each new outsider our cuisine changed till we today depend on Afghani ‘karahi’ and Kashmiri pink tea. We will not mention the ‘horsekick’ grape juices fermented outside Delhi Gate, which in its peak attracted British officers from colonial India in Sikh days. Back to monuments.

The mosque of Dai Anga outside the Lahore railway station also has been tiled over and made ‘respectable’. It needs serious conservation attention. But the worst example of the neglect of our Mughal past is the condition of the Shalimar Gardens. This exquisite royal garden was fed by two ancient water filtration plants located outside the main walls. Sadly, if tragically is not a better word, we saw the past government of the now living in exile chief minister of the Punjab in his urge to build a motorway to India bulldose the two filtration plants. During a visit to Spain’s Alhambra Gardens in Granada, it was a moving experience to see two similar water filtration plants still watering those beautiful gardens, just as once Lahore had a similar system using canal water.

Today over 10 water pumps work, most of them are not in working condition. The few fountains that work have an uneven flow, spoiling the entire experience of visiting the place. The mango and other fruit trees have been damaged beyond description, which I shall avoid describing lest our ‘rulers’ think we are cribbing. But my plea is that this place needs emergency attention, and the best experts need to be invited to plan its future. Lahore needs to save this precious place.

Now let me return to the lost gateways and walls of old Lahore. Over the years we have time and again reminded people that they no longer exist, except for six gateways which the British were kind enough to rebuild. The rest saw Partition destroy the Shahalami and the Taxali gateways, while the others and the entire walls were slowly stolen - YES, stolen brick by brick – by the trading classes that have converted almost half of the old walled city into an ugly business bazaar of various sorts, from stinking leather to chemicals, to machinery, to cloth, to instruments, you name it and the walled city bazaars have it.

To make deliveries efficiently they have even broken through and created a 14th gateway next to Shahalami. In any sane law-abiding country this would be declared a national catastrophe. There is a need to restore the walls and the main gateways. One does understand that it is a massive undertaking, but this should, to my way of thinking, be a national project. One does not discount the need to conserve and restore ancient cities like Bhera and other places in the Punjab and Pakistan too. There is just so much to do, and all of it deserves top priority, this may well firmly put the country on the road to be a top tourist attraction, which is a favourite catch phrase these days. Word, words, words.

Now back to Lahore. Inside Bhati and Lahori gateways hidden inside are scores of lanes and ‘mohallahs’ which are virtually falling apart, their bricks crumbling and wooden portions rotting. It is a sight that makes one angry. Just like Gali Surjan Singh was an Aga Khan Trust for Culture demonstration project to make us aware of what was wrong with our way of working, the only positive was that it led to the creation of the Walled City of Lahore Authority in 2012.

There is an urgent need to identify other ‘galis’ and ‘mohallahs’ to completely restore what was once the world’s finest city. The residents would be more than happy to contribute to the effort, in some cases almost 75 per cent of the cost.

There are also a number of huge empty ‘havelis’ whose ownership has been, probably dubiously, taken over by political persons. They are decaying and soon vacant plots will be available for yet another concrete commercial plaza. The rot lies within, and one says this in all earnestness. Outside even amazing places like the Bradlaugh Hall on Rattigan Road, which played a major role in the freedom of the sub-continent, has seen illegal houses built thanks to Evacuee Trust fiddling. The main hall crumbles slowly. History slowly decays, only to disappear.

The list of what needs to be done is endless. As an example take Model Town, where once every house was surrounded by beautiful hedges. Today every house has 10-foot high walls with barbed wires atop. The once green colony is today a series of mini-fortresses. But then so is the new DHAs. It’s the mindset. We all live in our ‘walled up’ cocoons not knowing who our neighbours are. Who cares that our Holy Prophet (PBUH) wanted us to know, and know well, seven neighbours on every side and treat them like family. No Sir, we are safe in our mini-fortresses.

NOTE: Apropos the Harking Back column, titled ‘Forgotten Walton Refugee Camp and the great exodus’, published in the Aug 15 issue of the newspaper, Aug 14, 1947, fell on a Thursday, and not Friday. Moreover, it was the 26th of Ramazan on that Thursday. – The error is regretted.