Remembering Bhagat Singh

The district government’s decision to establish the Lyallpur Heritage Foundation, is a step in the right direction.

The Faisalabad district government’s decision to preserve Bhagat Singh’s house and primary school is indeed a welcome, if belated, move. Until now, our history books have chopped and cut out essential figures from South Asian history, with the subtlety of a chainsaw, under the assumption that if figures did not directly contribute to the Pakistan Movement, they’re irrelevant. With that assumption, influential figures like Lal Bal Pal, Pandit Motilal Nehru, his son, Jawaharlal, Abul Kalam Azad, and even Gandhi, have been axed from our history books, or are portrayed as antagonists.

The truth is that an anti-colonial, nationalist movement preceded the Pakistan Movement by many decades if not a century. No one, including those fighting for independence, had even heard the term Pakistan before Chaudhry Rehmat Ali coined it — even years before the Muslim League popularised it.

Pakistan’s inception is indeed miraculous, but one must note that it hinges on the efforts of many individuals — indeed, martyrs like Bhagat Singh — spanning decades that led to our eventual independence. It is indeed patriotic to appreciate these efforts rather than excising them from our history. The district government’s decision to establish the Lyallpur Heritage Foundation, which seeks to preserve that history, is a step in the right direction.

But it is also only a step. Much much more needs to be done. The many heritage sites we possess lie in a decrepit state, and have not gotten the protection they deserve. At the other end, we have land developers with a voracious appetite who will not stop to consider laws — let alone history — when it comes to making a quick buck. We’re in danger of having our history become inaccessible to us. Documents in our archives rot away as the dust that piles on them gets heavier. We have tried to ignore so much of our history for so long; now we may just forget it.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 27^th, 2014.

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