Conserving our heritage

This refers to the letter, ‘Heritage in trouble’ (Dec 7), by Zulfiqar Rajpar. The writer has expressed that Mohenjo-daro – which is a symbol of ancient civilisation – has lost attraction to local and foreign tourists due to the absence of facilities at the site. The writer also listed certain facilities which need to be provided at the site.

The moot question is: why the place has lost attraction for both the local and foreign tourists, despite having immense importance in history? The answer is simple: we, as a nation, have disowned our history. The textbooks followed in the schools of the Sindh province don’t mention the history of Gandhara, Harappa and Mohenjo-daro in detail. Since we do not know much about our heritage, we are not attracted to the historical sites. Under these circumstances only those who have the knowledge of history have been visiting these sites. This number has also dwindled given the security concerns.

Faqir Ahmad Paracha

Peshawar

*****

The Lahore Fort – also called Shahi Qila – is located in Lahore. The fort was built by the famous Mughal king, Akbar, in the 16th century. Most recently, I visited the place and was disappointed to see the shabby condition of the famous fort. The cultural heritage of the country was standing in a bad state. The walls and doors of the fort were broken. Usually, countries take extreme care of their heritage. They try keeping the buildings intact as they are the gateway to the history of the nation. The situation is quite opposite in the country, the government is not paying any attention to the bad state of the historical sites –including the fort.

If appropriate steps are taken by the government to repair these building, a large number of local and foreign tourists would be attracted to the place. This will boost the tourism industry of the country. Pakistan is one of the fortunate nations for having such a precious and invaluable heritage.The government should take adequate steps to revive the fort.

Rafiullah

Islamabad