KMC roars to take back bronze lions from Mohatta Palace

Museum management insists they have an agreement with KMC to keep statues

KARACHI:

The Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) wants to take back a pair of bronze lions that were handed over to Mohatta Palace Museum eight years ago for an exhibition.

The lions are a property of Karachi zoo and the city administration is keen to gain custody of the statues once again. The rare pair was gifted by Queen Elizabeth. According to KMC's senior director for culture, sports and recreation Syed Raza Abbas Rizvi, the bronze lions have been dumped by the museum management. "Their colour has changed from metallic brown to black," he said, adding that there are only two pairs of bronze lions in the world —one of them is in Karachi and other one is in London.

The museum officials have, however, insisted the pair was given to them under a 'permanent loan' agreement. The statues remain a property of the KMC but the museum was allowed to display them as part of its exhibition, an official explained.

Meanwhile, KMC officials claimed that the pair of bronze lions were merely borrowed for the 15 days of the exhibition, 'Jewel in the Crown — Karachi Under British Raj 1843 to 1947', which was held at Mohatta Palace between September 2004 and February 2005. "It was not for 15 days, the agreement was inked for an indefinite time," said a museum official.

Read: In Mohatta’s rooms, many a textured splendor unfurls

The latest twist in the controversy occurred on Tuesday when commissioner Shoaib Ahmed Siddiqui formed a committee to approach the Mohatta museum management to resolve this issue. He has included Karachi University professor Dr Zaheer Hussain, Karachi Chamber of Commerce's Faisal Mukhtar, a representative of the commissioner's office and KMC's Rizvi as members of the committee.

During the meeting, Siddiqui told the officials that legal action will be taken if Mohatta museum does not return the statues. "We have written several letters to the museum director and others but they have yet to give a tangible response," said Rizvi.

"Instead of giving a proper response, the director of Mohatta Palace Museum said she is not in a position to deal with the matter and suggested approaching the managing trustees," said Rizvi.

For his part, Hameed Akhund, a retired bureaucrat who works as one of the managing trustees, told The Express Tribune that this issue is merely propaganda started by certain people against Mohatta Palace Museum. These bronze lions were given by the then administrator of Karachi, Faheemuz Zaman Khan, under an agreement, he said. "We have a written document, which can dismiss  the claims of KMC officials about  the handing over of the pair for 15 days," he said. Akhund insisted that the statues have not dumped but have been preserved from decaying.

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