Govt urged to acquire & preserve Kapoor Haveli

PESHAWAR: Awami National Party (ANP) on Friday asked the KP government to acquire and preserve the historic Kapoor Haveli, which was in a dilapidated condition.

Through a statement issued here, the party provincial spokesperson and Member Provincial Assembly from Peshawar, Samar Haroon Bilour, deplored that Archaeology Department was not taking any action to preserve the Kapoor Haveli, the birthplace of the members of Kapoors who hailed from Peshawar city. She said the KP government had been claiming that it had allocated funds for the preservation of the Kapoor Haveli. However, she said, these claims were incorrect as the building was still private property. Samar Haroon Bilour said the minister for law while responding to a question in the KP Assembly had said the government had allocated fund for the Kapoor Haveli preservation, but she said it was not correct as the government cannot allocate funds for private property. She offered assistance to the KP government in the preservation of this cultural entity.

Samar Haroon Bilour said that the government should first purchase the property from its owner and then preserve it. It may be mentioned here that constructed almost 100 years old, Kapoor Haveili is located in Dhakki Munawwar Shah locality, near Qissa Khwani Bazaar. Raj Kapoor, considered to be the greatest showman of the subcontinent cinema was born here as were some of his other family members.