Heritage site faces commercialisation fears

A 200-year-old historic building located at Committee Chowk on Murree Road, opposite the shrine of Talian Shah, has been vacated by the education department after more than six decades, reviving speculation over a major commercial redevelopment plan allegedly backed by one of Rawalpindi's most influential political groups.

All seven offices of the District Education Authority (DEA0 and District Education Officers were reportedly forced to relocate from the centrally located premises to a new Education Complex housed in Madrassa Millia Islamia in Satellite Town, an area critics say is far less accessible to the public.

The move has effectively cleared the way for the politically influential group's long-standing plan to develop the highly valuable land - estimated to be worth around Rs100 billion - into commercial plazas, hotels and multi-storey buildings. Only the office of the Director of Education Colleges remains in the historic structure and officials fear it too could be removed at any time.

The double-storey building, regarded as a rare blend of European and Mughal architecture, was originally constructed nearly two centuries ago by a wealthy Hindu businessman in the name of his wife as an orphanage, dharamshala and shelter home.

Over the decades, the building has served several purposes. Around 1950, it briefly housed Holy Family Hospital, while for a short period it also functioned as Rawalpindi's jail.

Between 1930 and 1947, royal and British guests arriving from Bombay and Delhi were accommodated there, and it later operated as a government rest house for nearly two decades before education department offices were shifted there in 1960.

Education department officials maintain that the property had been legally purchased from the Evacuee Trust Property Board and claim to possess bank receipts proving payment. However, since 2024, the Evacuee Trust Property Board has asserted ownership of the site and began issuing eviction notices to education department offices and colleges.