The writer is a PhD candidate in Environmental Policy at State University of New York at Syracuse
Moenjo Daro, or Mound of the Dead, is considered ground zero when it comes to the study of the Indus Valley Civilisation. Situated approximately 400kms north of Karachi, the site was discovered by accident when archeologist D Banerji initiated a dig in 1922 to explore the visible stupa in the area. What happened next stunned the world as the expedition revealed one of the world’s first modern cities. It contained dug wells for accessing clean drinking water, unheard of in civilisations dating back over 5,000 years. The wastewater systems, that a significant portion of South Asia lacks today, comprised effluent drains built with brick masonry that ran along unpaved streets. Sir John Marshall, the then director general of the Archaeological Department of India, remarked in a book that “never for a moment was it imagined that 5,000 years ago, before even the Aryans were heard of, the Panjab (sic) and Sind, if not other parts of India were enjoying an advanced and singularly uniform civilisation of their own, closely akin but in some respects even superior to that of contemporary Mesopotamia and Egypt.”
Today, we are not even half way through exploring the wonders of Moenjo Daro. Archaeologists have taken care not to rush into further exploration since the structures are vulnerable to even changes in air moisture. Efforts to stabilise the brick structures have run into problems. It is in this context that I find hosting the Sindh Festival on the grounds of Moenjo Daro baffling. Even minor changes to its facade are magnified many times over in the context of its archaeological importance. The installation of light fixtures, scaffolding for a staging area and influx of a large number of people will do irreparable damage to the site. Pakistan has passed a number of legislations protecting such archaeological treasures, including the Antiquities Act of 1975. The environmental legislation also calls for a detailed impact assessment whenever such activities are undertaken at protected heritage sites. There is no reason to believe that any such assessment was undertaken by the organisers. Indeed, the authorities themselves seem to be enablers in this instance. Moenjo Daro is one of six sites in Pakistan that fall under Unesco’s World Heritage List and are considered to be of “outstanding universal value”.
While the sentiments of the Sindh Festival organisers are to be applauded for trying to bring the world’s attention to our history, it reflects poorly on their judgment and that of the authorities to allow such an event to proceed at Moenjo Daro. There are a number of other ways to have celebrated our heritage. Bilawal Bhutto Zardari could have initiated a plan to highlight such heritage through changes in the curriculum. Another initiative could have been to use some of the funds for this event to develop a television documentary on our collective heritage. In holding this event at Moenjo Daro, Mr Bhutto Zardari would find that it would cease to be a cultural event and come to be seen as a political stunt. Pakistan is home to many historic and environmental treasures. We ignore them at our own peril.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 2nd, 2014.
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COMMENTS (12)
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No government cared for Moenjodaro for six decades. It was left to rot like all the other archeological sites in the beautiful Sindh valley. Then, all of a sudden, it was time to groom the future Bhutto for the seat of power and do his image-building as the savior of Sindh. The fools who were given the noble task did not know that they were committing a minor and a major crime. The minor crime was copying the DC Comics character Superman's logo for the festival. The genuine owners of the design have already sent the legal notices to wherever the distorted version of Superman logo has been reproduced. Very soon, the Unesco and other world organisations will take notice and news of defacing the rare archeology site will be around. But we worship the Bhutto family as represented by a Zardari so much that we are prepared to face any consequences.
@Avtar:::When Zardari family will be preparing mortar to "fix-up" the damage done to the site of Moen-jo-Daro,where-from will they bring 5000+years of time,gone by,which is the most important ingredient of the heritage
The cultural festival is destructive to the historic site, that is, Mohan jo Daro. It is supported by the authorities in the name of culture. Facts are that other cultural monuments such as Buddhas in Bamiyan or Swat have been allowed to be destroyed while authorities looked the other way. The Islamic tradition permits destruction of arts and artifacts that are considered non-Islamic. Let us hope that the authorities or Zardari family uses its own funds to "fix-up" the damage that will be done to this historic site of the subcontinent.
for all these years, Mohenjo Daro has been ignored, allowed to flood, salinate, you name it.
Bilawal gave it the prominence it deserves. Let credit be given where it belongs. Give up on the nay saying.
well written.Instead of cheap stunts there are more funds to safeguard them and if want to highlight them they can do it by keeping those functions in cities rather on such vulnerable sites of historic importance.
@Mirza: I am a Sindhi and have the greatest regard for its diversity in all fields and sphere_-this is a liberal land and I agree totally with the writer that what better place to start than our schools and our education system,which now is so rotten that the scaffolding cannot hold it together.I say this as an educationist who has spent more than forty years and founded three liberal public schools,but all in the Punjab.Why?Because there are no takers in Sindh for such initiatives.So let's start with what matters the most.The festival was indeed a whiff of fresh breeze in the land of Prohibition;however, it could have been staged a little distance from the seat of the oldest civilisation.And for the record,Taj Mahal is a very well maintained historical site attracting millions of visitors,BUT it is not archaeological ruin like Mohenjo Daro.
I think the hue and cry of using Moenjodaro as a site for this event is much over done. One could debate the sense of holding such an event in the country, in an atmosphere that can only generate scorn and disbelief from a people who see this as a complete disconnect, a puff of smoke produced to ' jolly ' the senses of a very few. A few who do not even live in Pakistan and would not as much as shed a tear if Pakistan went the way of Moenjodaro.
Do the critics know that there have been huge functions and gatherings at Taj Mahal in India including Yani's concerts? Those who have always worked against Sindh;s interests all of a sudden started loving Indus Valley Civilization. At least for the first time in Pakistani history Mhenjodaro has become a subject of discussion and importance.
@Ada: So what? Everything in India is made by the Indians. Unlike you all, we don't care if the builder was an Arab or a Brit or a Shia or a Sunni. We have adopted them just the way they were.
Some, however, chose to form their own country, and always try to dissociate themselves from their own heritage. Nothing one can do about that.
Perhaps during the festivities, the rulers may even get valuable insight as to how a civilized culture looks like. Fingers crossed!
@ Mohd Tarekh: Ha, just like Delhi is a part of Afghan-Pathan heritage? or Makli part of the Arab one? There is too much of that 'Arab' contribution in that portrait of sublime beauty that Indians every now and then like to present to the world as their architectural epic. Maybe a bit of reading on how the elliptical domes of the Taj are derived and partially constructed on the model of the Dome of the Rock in Jerusaleum, built by the Ummayad Abd-al-Malik in 692 C.E, might be of help here.