Erasing history: Fatima Jinnah’s cars gather rust due to officials’ apathy

The Sindh Archives Department has dumped both the cars in its premises in Clifton

KARACHI: When the Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah secured a separate homeland for the Muslims of the subcontinent, he believed he was doing us all a favour. Over the years, however, the indifference that we have shown towards our heroes would have made him rethink his decision. The current condition of the two vintage cars, which were in the personal use of the Quaid's sister, Fatima Jinnah, is a perfect example of this apathy.

Instead of preserving the cars and displaying them in a museum where they belong, officials of the Sindh Archives Department have dumped both the cars in their office premises. The cars were moved from Mohatta Palace in 1990s for want of repairs. The repairs, however, never took place and the two vehicles are now lying in a 'derelict' condition in the premises of the archives department building at Clifton.

The cars are granted tight security - no one is allowed to see them as the department officials have issued serious orders to the lower staff to keep them away from prying eyes. But this has not stopped opportunists from stealing the engine, tyres and other mechanical parts, leaving the skeleton of the vehicles behind.



According to one official, who requested anonymity, the department had initially received a grant for the repair of these vehicles. Instead of using the funds on the cars, the officials quietly pocketed the funds. "The cars were parked at the Mohatta Palace - the residence of Fatima Jinnah. After her demise, when an autonomous board of trustees was set up to look after the Mohatta Palace in the 1990s, the provincial government took away both the cars to repair and restore them to their original condition," Hameed Akhund, a member board of Mohatta Palace Museum Gallery Trust told The Express Tribune.

Qaim Ali Qasim, the director of the archaeology department, who was once part of the efforts to restore the vehicles to their original condition, said that the culture department had earlier taken the initiative, but the engineers and mechanics had quoted a very high price, due to which the idea was put on hold.

"One is Mercedes and the other is a Cadillac. Both have been damaged because of the negligence of the archives department," said Qasim. "The plan was to restore the cars and put them on display in a museum, but the automobile engineers had demanded over Rs20 million. The culture department had no funds at the time."

He said, adding that Mohatta Palace has been declared a national monument because it was the residence of Fatima Jinnah, but the incumbent management of the palace had also ignored her belongings.  "After the renovation of the museum, the management of Mohatta Palace should have at least taken the cars back," he said.

The primary duty of the archives department is to preserve government records. Every official, however, pointed fingers at the department for damaging the cars. When The Express Tribune contacted the archives department, they excused themselves by quoting orders from the secretary. "We are not authorised to let you see these vehicles or take pictures," said the archives department deputy director Makhdoom Zulfiqar. When asked about the delays in the repairs, he said: "We have checked the records from the excise and taxation department. There is no owner of these cars, therefore government has not restored them," he said, directing to get further details from the secretary of the department.

The secretary, Zulfiqar Ali Shalwani, refused to speak about the issue. "I will not comment on it," he said angrily. "You can speak to the director of the archives department."

On the other hand, officials of the Quaid-e-Azam Mazar Management Board said that they had preserved the two vehicles that were used by the Quaid-e-Azam and put them on display at the museum. "A Cadillac and a Packard were in the use of founder of the nation," said Arif Shaikh, the incharge of the board.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 17^th, 2015.