After Sindh Festival: Heritage preservation body asks K-P govt to get act together

Says official neglect is destroying thousands of years old heritage.

The Cultural Heritage Council (CHC), a civic organisation dedicated to preserving Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa’s (K-P) heritage, on Sunday demanded the government declare an emergency for preserving the province’s heritage and historical assets.

CHC General Secretary Shakil Wahidullah Khan stated in a press release that the K-P government should take practical steps for promoting its heritage in line with the Sindh government’s recently launched festival.

He said the Sindh Festival was not only a source of entertainment for people but will go a long way for the cultural preservation of the province. Khan lashed out at the archaeology department and said the province, especially Peshawar, has thousands of years old historical sites like Shahi Bagh, Wazir Bagh, Mission Hospital and the Durrani graveyard at Rehman Baba Cemetery. However, they were rotting away in neglect, he lamented, claiming the department was responsible for damaging the region’s heritage.

He said the government could make a lot of money if it renovated these places and opened them for the public, but a serious policy in this regard was yet to be formulated.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 3^rd, 2014.