*Pakistan’s priceless archeological treasures are being ground into dust by the very people who are entrusted with their protection. *
While driving from Islamabad to Peshawar, one comes across many beautiful sites. And of these places, one is Kund.
Kund is the place where the two rivers, Kabul and Indus meet. The water of Kabul is pure blue, whereas the water of Indus is pale blue. This difference can be noted clearly if you view it from near the old bridge. Kund is also the place where the two rivers merge and flow onward as River Indus.
Since childhood, I can remember our father telling us the historical background and the geographical importance of different places, in and around Kund. But then, the place also excited me.
First the river running along the road as if it is also travelling with you. Then, Fort Attock. Half of it appears submerged in the river, as if it is wetting its feet in the refreshing water. I always feel sad whenever I look at its deteriorating condition. And though I always wanted to go inside it, I do realize now that it would not have been a wise decision. For to be inside, either you have to be exiled or executed if there is no active public support behind you at that moment. Nevertheless, that didn’t take my admiration for its grand appearance, still standing tall without any requisite care from the inheritors.
After passing through Attock one comes across many other beautiful archeological sites. Attock Tomb, the Behram Ki Baradari and many other masterpieces are scattered across on either sides of the GT Road, all within a sphere of two kilometre. But for the past five years, whenever I happen to pass through that portion of GT Road, which was undergoing expansion, I also marvelled at the indifferent attitude of our archeological departments.
All these beautiful pieces are fading into oblivion, all thanks to the negligence of the concerned departments and the bad civic sense of our public. However, many buildings are still at risk and need to be restored. Still threatened to fall into ruin I always thought “Do we as a nation deserve what we own or inherited?” Fear haunts me that nations who cannot cherish and protect their history fade away without leaving any mark of their own.
I happened to drive through the same route on March 13 and to my surprise, and to that of the others, there was some activity at a place called the ‘Attock Tomb’. I was so delighted, I made my brother stop the car and we came out to see the work in progress. However, our joy was short-lived and to our dismay, the work in progress is of as much shock as the deteriorating condition was. There is a newly constructed boundary wall around the tomb. No one thought of using stones for building the wall to match the old tomb though the construction by using stone is quite common in the area.
The labour there was not the specialized people who work towards the restoration of such sites. Ordinary people were at work. They are using ordinary sand and cement. And as we took photos, we realized that there was no curator in sight.
Photos reveal the quality of renovation as it is by no means the restoration of archeological sites. We can only call it renovation. The newly renovated portion of the tomb shows the untreated seepage while the work on the other wall is in progress.
Within a few hundred yards there is ‘Behram Ki Baradari’ and other archeological pieces that are also being destroyed thanks to our long indifference. We walked up to the place and found a student sitting there and studying in peace. The building speaks for itself
A short while later, he left the place. He might not have liked our presence. After all, it was his study time. The structure is half buried, the fountain is broken, everything is open to everyone for whatever they like to do with the historical treasures. No doubt, we are an independent nation.
The other sides of the G.T. Road, alongside the river are various restaurants, famous for the river fish. The old archeological pieces are being used by vendors. WAPDA had installed a meter on one of them. I hope they have taken permission from the archeological department.
Someone has thought of some use of one of the old pieces. He has set up a karhai shop and fried-fish selling point. Bundu Khan may not be aware of one of his branch being operated at such an archeological site alongside river.
I came back to my car with a heavy heart and did not even stop for a fried-fish, an outing I don’t usually miss.
A few months later, in June, I visited Nurmberg in Germany. This was one of the cities that was completely destroyed and rebuilt after World War II. The famous feature of this city is its four old mediaeval gates. I was fascinated by how well they had been preserving their heritage and was then informed that the gates had been rebuilt after the war, on the same pattern. So much so that to the eye of a layman, it still looks as old as it was before the war. The originality had been restored. After seeing the work at Attock Tomb, I can now differentiate between restoration and preservation.
Amid such a big question mark, I searched for the information on archeology. To my surprise I found that the government has allocated Rs10 million for conservation of three historical sites in Attock district.
**It was discovered that Pakistan archeological department has identified 195 archeological sites of Buddhist, Mughal, Sikh and Hindu periods between Swat and Taxila. There are around 18 sites only in district Attock, including Attock Tomb, Behram Ki Sarai, Begum Ki Sarai, adjacent to Attock Fort and near main G.T. Road. **
Mr Ingo Strevch, a German scholar and professor of Berlin University during his visit to Pakistan for study and research, declared the historical monuments and archeological sites of various era at Pakistan, precious assets that are known all over the world.
This is really sad:( I wonder, if we’ll ever be able to take pride and treasure the gifts that we inherited from our forefathers.
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