Harking Back: Old Lahore moves to restore its past … or is it a dream

Finally the Punjab Chief Minister, Mr. Usman Buzdar, has acted positively on matters that this column has been advocating for years. They have decided to restore the Bradlaugh Hall and to start work on the Bhati Gate ‘project’. This is the real Lahore of the future.

The image of the gent is not of a very ‘performing’ person, for in Pakistan the image matters more, be it politics or the bureaucracy. But just to clarify that this and other decisions have been made ‘in principle’. First on the agenda was that the long-serving DG of the Walled City of Lahore Authority has been given an extension. So with so many ‘high profile’ examples to his credit, one wishes that in this yet another tenure he completes projects that are dearer to the poor common people of the ancient city, just as the pre-WCLA days ‘demonstration project’ of Gali Surjan Singh still stands to the credit of the Aga Khan Trust.

The two projects given the go-ahead ‘in principle’ that interests us most is the Bradlaugh Hall rejuvenation project, and restoration of the Bhati Gateway. We must take these two developments as part of a larger and more meaningful set of projects. Sadly, the respectable chief minister decided to ignore the future of the famous Punjab Archives, which when last visited lies dumped in the old French-era horse stable of the Punjab Civil Secretariat. But back to our two main topics.

The decision to restore the famous Bradlaugh Hall has long been demanded by those who fully understand the importance of this hall on Rattigan Road, large portions of whose grounds have been illegally taken over by people for their housing. Just why did the Evacuee Trust ‘gurus’ allow this illegality to exist needs investigation. Maybe the courts can usher in an ‘enlightened’ ‘suo motu’ action to fully restore history and sanity.

For those not in the know, this hall was due to the deeds and action of an eccentric Yorkshire Member of British Parliament, Mr Charles Bradlaugh, who purchased the land for a hall so that the freedom movement could have a formal place to plead its cause. He was “expelled from all lands of the British Indian Empire”. So good old Charles took a boat and stayed in it on the River Ravi so that legally he was not on land.

In this hall took place all the fiery freedom speeches delivered and propelled the movement with Lahore as its centre. Leaders like Gandhi, Jinnah, Nehru (both senior and junior) and almost anyone of any standing worked from this hall. Revolutionaries like Bhagat Singh and his friends stayed here and studied the essential texts. In a way this hall can truly be said to be the centre of our mutual freedom movement.

Assume the restoration work is carried out, then what next? For the Punjab the freedom brought forth an unprecedented bloodbath that resulted in the largest exodus in human history. The reason we have been pleading the cause of this hall is that there is a critical need to put in place the planned “Lahore Partition Museum”. This is because our children have absolutely no idea of the sacrifices of our forefathers for the creation of Pakistan. It is bathed in the blood of our elders. An effort is on to record their stories, with Berkeley University playing a leading role thanks to Dr Guneeta. The ‘1947 Partition Archives’ is there for everyone to see on the web.

For this the WCLA should take the lead in forming a non-profit society of concerned citizens to take the lead once this place is restored. An Endowment Funds needs to be created to make sure it never relies on officialdom. There is a similar Partition Museum in Lahore’s sister city just across the border. We should be willing to learn and cooperate with the archives available all over the world. Bloody as Partition was, it is a critical part of our recent heritage. If this can be achieve in the DG’s new tenure, he will be remembered for this positive contribution. Let’s hope matters move beyond the ‘in principle’ approval.

Now on to the Bhati Gateway. Again a bit of history and then on to the complete picture of a project that has already been approved, but its financial go-ahead had been waiting for a long time. The approval ‘in principle’ to restore the Bhati Gateway to its past grandeur sounds impressive. This gateway was never part of the ancient city, but came about during the reign of Mughal emperor Akbar, who expanded the city eastwards and westwards for a reason.

To the west he accommodated the ‘troublesome’ Brat Rajput tribes of the Punjab, fighting to win back the freedom of the Punjab. Hence it was called Bhat(i) Gate. Appeasement worked wonders, just as to the east the Cossack horsemen from Turkmenistan, mostly the Qizilbash (red-haired) tribes. Hence horse markets emerged in those parts.

The Bhati Gate and its bazaar runs right up to the Lahore Fort, and this was a composite restoration project that awaited a financial go-ahead for many years. It needs a complete restoration undertaking, like the Gali Surjan Singh success story that attracts tourists galore. Instead just the gateway has been given approval. Well, if it is for starters then so far so good. It will be easy going a single structure, and one hope work starts soon.

But the walled city will truly undergo a massive change if the planned project to restore the entire Bhati bazaar and all its historic lanes and ‘mohallahs’. Lahore can then truly be another Seville whose walled city houses have tourist hotels in its narrow lanes. No other city attracts more tourists in Spain than its old city. Having stayed in one fired up my wish that my old city should be the best in the world. This is in the realm of the possible.

Among the other decisions there is an effort to restore crumbling religious tombs of ‘saints’, and there is a wish that other old cities of the Punjab should have similar efforts going. If this is possible then, finally, Pakistan will have started to take itself and its past seriously. But then we see that the Badshahi Mosque might yet be handed over to the tourism department. That will be a sensible step unless our religious fringe reacts. Our political and bureaucratic leadership should stand against such a fringe.

But then we must also house the finest of the fine record of our past in one massive place, so that researchers and students can find the actual documents of the last 400 years. This collection is second only to the British Museum Library. Our campaign has been to get the entire Punjab Archives shifted to the Freemasons Hall. We have Cambridge University archivists and scholars who wish to help out. After all it belongs to the entire world. But there is a massive hitch. The Freemasons Hall is one of four personal offices of Mr Buzdar, and before him of Shahbaz Sharif. Will the man budge for a much greater cause? If he does then he will also be remembered for this positive decision. The good times await, or will it pass by yet again.