Paleejo’s ‘prehistoric’ aeroplane

According to Sindh’s culture minister, an aeroplane dating two centuries back has been discovered at Jharak in...

KARACHI: If Sindh’s culture minister Sassui Paleejo is to be believed, an aeroplane dating two centuries back has been discovered at Jharak (Thatta) in Sindh. Jharak’s earlier claim to fame was that it was the actual birthplace of  the founder of the nation, Muhammad Ali Jinnah.

Now Ms Paleejo says in a Sindh government handout that she has constituted two different teams of experts of the Culture department to ascertain the facts and figures about the historical “headstone” of an aeroplane that is  believed to be two centuries old.

The aeroplane has been found in Jharak.

By all respects, this news should be of international significance given that the Wright brothers flew their first flight in 1903.

Either that, or possibly Ms Paleejo needs to sack her PR staff for what can best be described as one of the most poorly written press releases seen by the media in recent times.

The press official has translated the Urdu word “jahaz” into aeroplane, not realising that the correct translation would be ship or steamboat to be precise.

The news about the ship appeared in this paper on Saturday.

The ship was found a kilometre away from the Raju Nizamanai village of Union Council Jharak. It has two decks and is 100 feet long, 40 feet wide and 20 feet high. The upper part, which is around five to six feet high, can be seen from a considerable distance. The remaining part is buried in mud.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 21^st, 2011.