A home for Dilip Kumar in Pakistan
Like Ivo Andric or Garcia Marquez, Kumar is not confined to his current national boundaries; his significance — and his life — spans the Subcontinent. While Kumar has already been awarded the Nishan-e-Imtiaz, Pakistan’s highest civilian honour, the move to declare his childhood home, currently dilapidated, a heritage site is one more step towards the recognition of those individuals on a regional scale. The house of Raj Kapoor, also in Qissa Khwani Bazaar, is also set to be declared a heritage site.
But beyond the deserved recognition of South Asia’s actors, the move signals a willingness by the government to accept a shared history, a pricklier idea. As far as Pakistan’s geography is concerned, ruins from the Indus Valley Civilisation, excavations in Bhambore, Buddhist relics in Peshawar all suggest a breathtaking unity within narratives of history which has been systematically shrouded from view. Our history writing is informed by the Two-Nation Theory, impossibly dissecting events, people and physical locations into ‘Pakistani’ and ‘Indian’ at a time when those divisions did not exist. To an extent, the laurels towards Kumar mitigate that charge. Kumar, a Muslim, chose to stay in India, but is being honoured all the same. A similar openness with other figures — Raj Kapoor is a start; Bhagat Singh also comes to mind — will only help bridge this historical and historiographical divide.
Published in The Express Tribune, July 19th, 2014.
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COMMENTS (8)
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The editorial is premature. The architecture department has said that this proposal is not feasible. This shows that forget ther army - Nawaz does not even have writ over civilians. Before announcing somethin like this, Pakistan should have confirmed its feasibility. No wonder Pakistan lacks credibility in negotiations with India. Even a commitment made by Pakistani PM cannot be trusted.
@G. Din: Dilip Kumar. Was born in (united) India and has lived as an Indian all his life. He is alreqdy in his mtherland. No need to go anywhere.
@G. Din: India is the motherland of Dilip Kumar. His father left Peshawar and settled in Maharashtra much before the partition. He could have gone back there if he believed in Jinnah and his two-nation theory but he chose to live in India like many other muslims. The fact that he went to his birth place only twice in last 67 years speaks a lot about his intention. Pakistan honoured him with Nishan-e-Imtiyaz for political reasons and now doing this to find some muslim and pakistani roots of Bollywood. Whatever be the reason, Indians love and respect Dilip Sahib.
@Naeem Khan Manhattan,Ks: The greatest tribute Yousof Khan a.k.a Dilip Kumar can pay to his homeland is by settling back in his motherland. Trust me, India will not come in his way if he did so.
I appreciate your article and it is laudable that Pakistanis recognizes Dilip Kumar and Raj Kapoor for their artistic heights. Few decades ago my uncle in Mardan showed me this group picture of students from Edward College Peshawar and pointed out one young student who was Pirthvi Raj Kapoor, the father of Raj Kapoor. Yes, they lived in Peshawar. You have pointed out twice about the dilapidated state of the house but what bothered me the most was that he was in Peshawar several years ago and has visited his house but left no funds to rehabilitate the structure, we know he is well to do financially. Well, it is a good gesture on Part of Pakistani government to make these 2 houses as national heritage and make it presentable for those tourists who wants to visit and enjoy the history.
How about making Kapoor family's house a heritage site? Their family's contribution to Bollywood was (and is) several times than that of Dilipkumar's not only in acting but in all fields of Filmmaking
I don't think they should have declared it national heritage.