KOHAT:
An 8,000 square feet portrait of Muhammad Ali Jinnah has been “rotting away” in a storage room at the Capital Development Authority (CDA) for the past 10 years.
Liaquat Ali Khan, the painter, said the thought of the fate of his masterpiece makes him “restless”. There was a time when Khan could not pay the admission fee (Rs120) at the Fine Arts department at the University of Peshawar (UoP), but he went on to make a painting that cost 40,000 dirham.
Now teaching at the Fine Arts Department at Kohat University of Science and Technology, Khan, born in 1949, expressed an inclination towards creative expression since early childhood. He went against his father to make cinema hoardings.
In 1972, he received a diploma in Commercial Art from the department of Fine Arts at UoP and joined the Abu Dhabi municipality as a horticulture designer, where he worked for around 30 years before returning to Pakistan.
One of his landmark paintings, a 512-square meter portrait of Sheikh Zayed, still adorns the corniche near the Emirates Palace since 1997. After painting more than 1,000 portraits of the princedom founder, Khan decided to return to Pakistan.
Khan decided to paint a 2,830 square feet portrait of Quaid-i-Azam in 1999. However, he got a whiff that someone in India was also painting a 4,000-square feet portrait of Gandhi. He decided to resize his canvas to 8,000 square feet. Prudent enough, Khan did not let air of his plan out till the completion of his painting, which took some seven months and at least 40,000 dirham to finish.
Khan dispatched the 2,970 kg painting to Islamabad. However, it did not see the light of the day, and landed in CDA storage. The painting is made on 500 pieces of plywood, fitted into 32 crates, each containing 18 pieces.
During the second tenure of Nawaz Sharif, he met former federal minister Sartaj Aziz and informed him of his painting. The government promised to install the painting but the plan did not materialise. Later he met President Musharraf and Premier Shaukat Aziz in Abu Dhabi and they assured him that his painting will be put up. He was also called to GHQ for a meeting. He was told his painting would be installed in Islamabad on March 23, 2001, which was later rescheduled to August 14. Nothing happened.
Later, Khan also offered the CDA to bear the installation charges of Rs1 million, after selling his house. However, he was told that the Islamabad air was not good for the painting, and it may be installed in Karachi. However, the custodians of Quaid’s mausoleum said that the portrait’s height far exceeded that of the mausoleum, so it could not be installed there.
Khan has lived with a number of rumours in the past 10 years. Some time back, a rumour surfaced that his painting had gone missing. Later, it was found in CDA storage no 19.
“I was speechless when I visited the location,” Khan said. “A whole crate containing at least 18 pieces was missing. Someone had taken it away.”
When he opened the present crates, he was “surprised” to find frogs in them. Even though he is willing to repaint the missing pieces, his resolve seems weak. He said he devoted a year’s worth of his income, time and energy to the painting, and got nothing in return.
“I painted the portrait as a gift for the nation,” he said. But it seems he has learnt his lesson. “I apologise to this nation and want my painting back.”
Published in The Express Tribune, August 24th, 2011.
COMMENTS (16)
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This is beyond sad. Poor man, he worked so hard and our inept government officials can't take out a few hours to find a suitable location for this painting.
N.H. www.gullian.tumblr.comIt is such a such a shame. Why should one do good work in this country, after all.
...since CDA is in the habit of selling off even an inch of space lying free...there is a possibility the painting will never see light of day, because of lack of space!
“I painted the portrait as a gift for the nation,” he said. But it seems he has learnt his lesson. “I apologise to this nation and want my painting back.”
This completely breaks my heart, this is so sad and depressing. This could have been a monumental piece, people of all ages would come to see it but the Government hasn't done its part to install it. I can feel the pain of the artist, this is so horrible. If this is how Pakistan treats in artists (or any hard working man who wants to do something good/productive for his nation) then I'm sorry to say I am not proud to be a pakistani=(
sarcastic,
Justices of the court arent supposed to pass "damn" comments on country's situation.
Not every problem is supposed to be handled by the courts.
Stand against your government which has failed to perform, instead of expecting Chief Justice to pass comments.
@Mehmood Haroon....when was the last time the Chief Justice did anything? Karachi's gone ablaze in Mayhem and our Mr Chief Justice hasnt so much passed a damn comment about it.
Proud on this Pakistani(Kohatian)belongs to my city as well as village.
I Request Honourable Chief Justice of Pakistan to take action in this regard and issue orders for installation of this Master piece in Islamabad.
Shame on all politicians and Pak army who has given the proud painter only fake hopes and 10 years have passed, had it been Benazir or Zardari or any other persons's portrait I am sure it would have never been in storage. Well who is goanna paint corrupts portraits. Laiqat saab you would have never come back to Pakistan and GOOD LUCK.
@Suppressed, Opressed, Depressed: Pakistanis still come back and prefer a living in troubled OWN Pakistan than living a peaceful yet hollow life somewhere abroad. Khan is an example of many of those who dont even get any limelight yet have a lot silently for the country. Atleast this person made his worth and earned respects of many who read this article.
he would have had better luck had it been benazir
1000 acres of lands for curropt individual not 8000 feet for quaid
He should have painted one of the "shaheeds" and earned himself sitara-e-imtiaz this year.
And then people wonder why Pakistanis prefer to stay abroad and never return.