A crumbling balcony in one of the houses situated in the bazaar. PHOTO: EXPRESS
Heritage sites in Rawalpindi are fading away due to government neglect. Bazaar Lakshmi Narain Je, believed to have been constructed in 1896 by Shah Bohdar Raj Sehgal, has been transformed into a residential colony where migrant families from Indian Kashmir have been residing since after the first war between India and Pakistan in 1948.
The negligence of the authorities can be gauged from the condition of eroding bricks of the main gate. The old structures have been demolished and new houses have sprung up.
Sheikh Abdul Kareem, 80, who was 10 when he migrated to Rawalpindi along with his family and took shelter in the fortified bazaar, said he never saw officials of the archaeology department visit the bazaar. “There were a few small houses when we took shelter in the fortified bazaar.” He added that the house in which his family lives is believed to be 150 years old.
It was just a mound with broken walls and debris of the demolished houses when we arrived here. My father reconstructed one of the houses, which we are still living in today, Karim said. “With the passage of time, more families came from Kashmir and took shelter on the mound. First they constructed makeshift homes and then turned them into houses.”
According to Karim, the bazaar had five gates which were demolished by families that constructed houses there. He claimed that he and other families purchased the land when two traders --- Mian Ihsanul Haq and Ghulam Muhammad --- claimed ownership in 1958 and threatened to evict them. “They asked us to either purchase the land or vacate the houses.” They have been pursuing a case in the Lahore High Court after the Evacuee Trust Property Board claimed the bazaar was government property.
National College of Arts Rawalpindi Director Dr Nadeem Umar Tarar said that historically, the bazaar had cultural significance and is believed to be constructed by powerful Sikh chief Milkha Singh.
Dr Tarar, while quoting Tareekh-i-Rawalpindi written by Muhammad Arif Minhas, said Milkha Singh ruled the city before Gujjar Singh, who defeated Muqarab Khan in 1765 and took over the city. Excavation has not been carried out to ascertain how old the bazaar is, he added.
In his book, “The Punjab Chiefs”, Lepel H Griffin identifies Milkha Singh Thehpuria as a powerful Sikh chief who, after seizing Gujrat and Gujranwala, ran over Rawalpindi. He built new houses and fortified the town. An accurate date of the attack on Rawalpindi, however, could not be confirmed.
“If excavation is not possible, then at least drilling should be allowed to ascertain its age,” Tarar said. He believes that as houses were demolished and replaced, a mound developed as part of the process.
Officials at the zonal office of the Evacuee Trust Property Board could not provide any document or data about the bazaar despite having made two visits.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 16th, 2014.
COMMENTS
Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.
For more information, please see our Comments FAQ