Badin’s Laar Museum may become history due to district administration’s negligence

After the floods, the artifacts were set aside in order to make room for relief goods.

BADIN/KARACHI: The Laar Museum in Badin allures passersby with its lush green lawns, grand marble steps and beautiful milk white tiles which have intricate navy blue floral patterns painted on them. But once you step inside, it’s a different scenario altogether — pieces of Sindh’s cultural heritage lie maimed and forgotten under films of cobwebs and dust.

The museum was once adorned with a plethora of historical items, including pottery from the era of the Indus valley civilisation, hand-written scripts of the Holy Quran in Persian, Arabic as well as Sindhi and historical pictures of different locations. But when the flood swept parts of Sindh, these were hastily set aside by the district administration in order to make room for relief goods.

The two-storey building which houses the museum is located in front of the deputy commissioner’s office on the main Karachi road. The facility was made possible by the efforts of a renowned historian, poet and anthropologist, Shaikh Muhammad Soomar. He used to collect artifacts from lower parts of Sindh, including Badin, Tando Muhammad Khan and Thatta.

Former prime minister Muhammad Khan Junejo gave Shaikh Rs0.5 million in order for him to continue this work without worrying about monetary constraints. Former governor, Kamal Azfar, also gave him one million rupees for the same purpose.

“The plot where the museum is constructed was purchased by Shaikh but the building itself was constructed because of the
efforts of the former deputy commissioner, Mumtaz Shah,” said one of the
museum’s founding members, Professor Abdullah Mallah.

He said that Shaikh collected historical items from the Soomra, Mughal and Kalhora periods and preserved them for future generations. Prof. Mallah added that Shaikh had written 447 books on different topics, but only 65 of them have been published so far.

“The district administration has destroyed years of Shaikh’s effort. The relief goods were carelessly thrown over these valuable items. I request the culture department to take control of the museum as soon as possible,” said Prof. Mallah.

“Most people are still unaware of damage that has been inflicted upon the museum. It seems as if the bureaucrats do not care about the public property,” said Engineer Kashif Khawaja.

He said that the government had acted callously towards Shaikh’s efforts. “How will other people take interest in the preservation of our cultural heritage if those who do so are not honoured? The negligence of the district administration will dissuade others. We are living in a dead society,” he added.

Khawaja said that the Culture Minister, Sasui Palijo, had visited the museum last month and expressed her dismay over the deplorable condition that it was in.

The deputy commissioner of Badin, Kazim Jatoi, told The Express Tribune that he has yet to receive a single complaint regarding the condition of the museum. “The district government had no option but to use the building as a warehouse after disaster struck. The relief goods have been removed and we will repair any objects which may have been damaged inadvertently,” he said.

But Abu Bakar Shaikh, who used to look after the artifacts, had a different opinion. “My uncle, Soomar Shaikh, was passionate about collecting objects for the museum. He gathered a number of coins from the period that the Arabs set foot on the sub-continent till the departure of the British. He devoted his life to this work and the present condition of the artifacts is really worrying,” he said.

He told The Express Tribune that it seems as if neither the citizens nor bureaucrats are interested in preserving these treasures from the past. He said that his cousin had been employed as a peon for the museum but he was not given his salary. “I think the culture department should look after the museum because it has  the capacity to maintain it.”

with Additional input by Razak Khatti

Published in The Express Tribune, January 6^th, 2012.