viewpoint: Illegal demolition?

FAISALABAD: A senior citizen, Sultan Mahmood, however had a valid point. He said the land for cinema was originally allotted on lease to its owners specifically for the promotion recreational activities.

“The status of the land cannot be changed for any other purposes,” he said, blaming the Faisalabad Development Authority and the city district government for not taking action against the demolishing of Nishat Cinema under Section 10 of the Antiquities Act of 1975.

“In the past, cinema houses used to be projected as status symbols. Almost all the cinemas were developed by feudal lords, who were kingmakers in city politics and deeply involved in politics,” he added.

Mahmood said not a single cinema house was built by any businessmen or industrialist and the state lands used to be acquired under the government scheme for a clear purpose of promoting recreational and cultural activities.

He called upon the archaeology department to declare the Nishat Cinema building ‘a protected site’.

 

Published in The Express Tribune, December 19^th, 2016.