Justice in museum ownership case sought

LAHORE:A close relative of MA Rehman Chughtai, National Artist of Pakistan, has said that Chughtai family is the legal owner of Chughtai Museum that was built in 2000. Ejaz Sarwar, a close relative of the artist, while talking from USA, revealed to The News that MA Rehman Chughtai, national artist of Pakistan, bought a piece of land in Old Garden Town in 1960. LDA cleared his possession in 1971 and after exemption of an eight kanals area, extracted four kanals for itself. Hard work of Chughtai family made LDA sell this portion back to the family in 1999 at more than market price, and in 2000 a new museum was built.

In 2008, an influential family in power in Punjab devastated this cultural project with a frivolous claim that the original owner in 1959 was at fault. A ridiculous claim was hammered with political might and the matter landed in the judicial process. Supreme Court has already given a verdict on the same and the case is now in the Lahore High Court, under Justice Muhammad Iqbal. MA Rehman Chughtai had played an iconic role in laying the aesthetic foundations of Pakistani art. The Chughtai family is morally and legally correct in its standing, he said.