|
|
|
|
 |
 |
  
|
issue onehour
The Railways Club in Peshawar (1921) can be restored and turned into a beautiful museum to showcase the colonial artefacts. Only if authorities were interested By Ali Jan In the famous 1956 film
Bhowani Junction, shot in Lahore and based on the novel by John Masters, The Railways Club was another lively social institution in major cities meant for the employees of the railways and their families. It offered a variety of first-class recreational, sports and amusement facilities to its exclusive members. After the creation of Pakistan, it retained some of its time-honoured club etiquette and traditions, but for a brief period. In a few years the club life slowly breathed its last breath and vanished. After sixty years of Pakistan's creation, today one of the last reminders of the glory that was once the North Western Railways (NWR) Club, its building stands forlorn and abandoned in Peshawar Saddar (opposite Jan's Bakery and adjacent to the former GTS bus stand) near the Cantonment Railway Station. Built in 1921, it is an elegant colonial-era brick structure in the middle of an open space. The railway property is surrounded by a sea of ever-rising commercial plazas that have emerged due to unplanned and haphazard development in the last decade threatening to replace the historic environs of the of 2600 years old city of Peshawar. Given that this heritage
property lies in prime commercial land, it is at high risk of being disposed
off anytime in the future. What typically goes on in government circles is no
secret. What usually happens is that the authorities concerned first make
contact with a private party that shows an In the west there is great public outcry when even a single old tree is chopped down. In our part of the world, the public is not aware of the significance of heritage sites or what benefits a thriving tourism industry can bring to a country. The failure to preserve our values, history and the recent decline in the province's rich archaeological wealth is a sad commentary on part of cultural ministries and government archaeology departments whose primary job is to protect our heritage sites. An important reason for our inability to look after such sites is because legislation related to protection of built-heritage is weak and there is also a lack of its enforcement. Even though it is possible to grant certain 'national monuments' and historical structures 'protected' status once notified under the Federal Antiquity Act 1975 (on paper at least) to save them from destruction. However, for practical reasons it is often difficult to apply the federal law on every ancient building. One therefore needs a thought-out comprehensive strategy at provincial level to provide blanket protection to hundreds of significant historic structures and monuments that do not come under preview of the Federal Antiquity Act and hence cannot be legally safeguarded. Regrettably, NWFP has no such law in existence. Compared to Sindh and Punjab provinces, which had passed legislation for heritage preservation at provincial level in 1985 and 1994 respectively, the Frontier province or the NWFP Archaeology Department is yet to formulate its own strategy. The so-called NWFP Antiquities Act 1997 was never recognised by the federal government, and quite rightly so, because it was a preposterous attempt to create a parallel law. In fact it is an exact plagiarised duplicate of the Federal Antiquities Act 1975 with a different name and thus has no legal standing even though it was passed by the assembly. There is an urgent need to enact a new cultural heritage law for NWFP on the same lines as the two other provincial laws namely The Punjab Special Premises (preservation) Governor's Ordinance 1985/ Punjab Special Premises (preservation) Rules 1993. Moreover, the Sindh Cultural Heritage (preservation) Act 1994 (Sindh Act no XII of 1994) passed by Sindh Assembly and Karachi Building and Town Planning Regulations. (Sindh building control ordinance, 1979) - Master Plan and Environmental Control Department KDA -- Preservation of Structures of Special Architectural or Historical Interest. Under the aforementioned Punjab and Sindh provincial laws certain premises can be declared protected (by a team of appointed experts) based on architectural craftsmanship, historical and cultural significance alone or association with any notable personality and so on. It is because of the sheer lethargy of the NWFP Archaeology Department that since 1997 (after passing a so-called provincial act that was never recognised for reasons already stated) they have not progressed an inch. No sites have been notified as 'protected' by the provincial department. Whilst few museums have been built in places like Swat, Chitral, Bannu etc thanks to a face-saving cash dole by the NWFP chief minister but in reality several heritage sites have been lost in the interim. There are many historic Mughal, Durrani, Sikh and British-era buildings of 'lesser' importance than national monuments which could have been granted protection had there been a local law in existence in NWFP. There is a distinguished legacy which the Archaeology Department has never recognised about this province. The Frontier remained the most militarised of all regions subject to British power during the Raj. Its romance is timeless and legendary. Winston Churchill had once remarked "(Here) Every rock every hill has its story." The romance kindled by the colonial encounter is still preserved here and most westerners come here solely to experience it. The province has so much to offer in terms of military and political history. In the remote and unfamiliar corners of the Empire here many of its great soldiers and statesmen learned their first lessons in war and administration. A scarce scratching of the surface yields legendary names of its celebrated heroes who first became famous here; the Lawrence brothers, Lumsden, Campbell, Mackeson, Edwardes, Abbott, Gough, Montgomery, Nicholson, Cavagnari, Roberts, Browne, Warburton, Roos-Keppel, Deane, Cunningham, Caroe, Auchinleck, Wavell, Churchill and numerous others were well-known "Frontiersmen" of their times and had passed years of their lives here. Unfortunately, no institutional attempt has ever been made to preserve this aspect. The British-era buildings, picquets, memorials, cemeteries, bridges and rail tracks etc have all fallen prey to criminal neglect and declined over the years because the main thrust of the Archaeology Department since its founding days has been on highlighting the Gandahara Civilization only. In the absence of an effective government department looking after all our heritage sites, it is hoped that the Pakistan Railways authorities will at least take notice of the old Railways Club building and put together some kind of an arrangement for its proper preservation. One pins great hopes on their personnel because it was mainly due to a few dedicated Railways officials like former chairman Shakil Durrani, Ishfaq Khattak, Shafiqullah etc in the past that we now have a fascinating museum at Golra near Rawalpindi for displaying railway memorabilia. Hundreds of foreign and local tourists flock to it everyday. Additionally, an old train station and waiting room have been wonderfully restored and converted into a 'Railways Heritage Point' near the British-era iron-girder bridge at Attock Khurd as well which is another fabulous success story with a lot of potential for future. With a bit of imagination and care, the Railways Club building too can be restored by emulating the Golra and Attock Khurd examples. The premises could be turned into a beautiful museum to showcase old NWR artefacts lying in bulk loads, now in the possession of the DS/ PR office in Peshawar. The items include vintage photographs, clocks, pendulums, kerosene tilly-lamps, gate signal lamps, signboards, NWR crockery, arms and ammunition and surgical items used in 19th century railway hospitals. In addition, there are elegant old pieces of furniture such as cupboards, long armed chairs used in waiting rooms and railway dak bungalows which could be displayed here. A public library could also be opened on its premises or perhaps a small public cafe to lend sustainability to this project. PR could additionally open an office here in private partnership to facilitate sale of tickets for the world-famous Khyber and Attock Khurd steam rail safaris. The open space in the front could be easily turned into a garden and it is possible to replace the boundary wall (facing the Saddar road) with a hedged fence. It is an ideal location to show-off an antique narrow-gauge steam engine parked on its premises. In short, if there is a will and with a bit of imagination and support the former Railways Club building can be restored to perfection. It would remain a splendid gift by the Pakistan Railways for the people of Peshawar for generations to come.
At Islamabd Airport you can lay your eyes on a varied version of your fellow countrymen and foreigners By Mushhood Zaheer Its 2:30 pm on a warm and
humid Sunday afternoon. The budget airline from Abu Dhabi has just At last! The pilot had finally found us. Its hard to blame the flight crew when your city's airport shares its airstrip with the national air force. Rumours abound that the navigator had simply refused to endorse any sort of landing of their 757 on this lonesome and somewhat run down looking piece of land. He must have thought that he had bungled and steered his team to some sorry excuse of a landing place 50 miles off course. This could explain the tardiness for most foreign carriers that decide to include Islamabad in their route. I turned around and negotiated my way through the crowd of onlookers. Taking a deep breath to inhale the bits of clean and odour free air I could capture in my lungs I quickly steered through a floor filled with an impatient audience. They were all here from the far corners of the city. Some huddled in circular groups, others pitted against the walls sitting crossed legged in a line as if they were labour workers waiting for a pick up truck to come haul them out to their next construction job. Taking the sheer amount of people in attendance you could easily pass this place off as the first stop in the number of places listed on the travel brochure for Destination Pakistan 2007 and hey! Why not? Its popular After some weaving in and out of the human traffic lanes I finally made it to my regular spot. I firmly planted my feet into the ground and silently proclaimed this 4 foot perimeter as mine. The floor was empty. The bouncers had done a good job of keeping rift raft away today. Still there always seems to be some innocent first timer who clearly does not understand the unspoken laws that govern the sacred arrival walkway. I can understand the touchy nature of the handlers when it comes to unwanted materials on the ramp. The sweeper has just done his round for the hour and they want a nice sparkling piece of land over which the newest aliens would pass. The scenes of scuffles and cork squeezed people are a customary precursor to the eminent inauguration of the foreign fashion parade. Today's runway models will comprise of potentially the best and the worst of world travelers. Such scenes would even outshine the best in the business. A few eager beavers decide to upstage this event with a confident looking stroll up to the main door way. When the door keeper kicks the other half of the gate open you can dig in your heels in anticipation. Here they come. First up you have the obvious foreigners. Its not the colour of their skin, or their unique languages and fancy clothes that give them away. Its simply the naive expressions on their face, as they stroll down the walkway pushing their neat trolleys. Another trivial giveaway these days is their wire connected ears, accompanied by a slight two and fro motion of their necks followed by the occasional self-murmur of the lyrics of some song. Their eyes are wandering in the crowd, squinting to focus on signs and banners with their names on them. They leave breathing a sigh of relief as the handlers wildly wave the zombie like strangers out of their path. This type of traveller is scarce in numbers and is always the first to disembark. First class comes with benefits. Next up you can lay your eyes on a varied version of your fellow countrymen. The clothes, the swagger of a walk and the bewildered look of desolation scream of despondency. This quite convincingly explains why most make their entrance always wearing a pair of sun glasses that mask the horror in their eyes, or they stroll in wearing their shades like crowns upon their heads exuding an aura of indifference as if they really didn't belong in this country in the first place. These are followed by a set of heirs known as the pretenders. They are clearly an adulterated version of the last lot. Their sense of style orphans them into a grey area that leaves them without an association or respect of any sort. Its akin to dumping a bucket load of foreign culture on someone and then saying that the environment has rubbed off on them the wrong way. Before the curtain drops, the show is brought to a close by probably the more genuine of people and the sort that truly deserves a standing ovation. You can identify such people not by their attire, or sense of fashion. What gives them away is their train of trolleys passing on the ramp one after the other loaded with boxes of computers, folded quilts, roped up travel trunks and a sense of relief of breathing homely air once more. Their entrance is greeted by the majority of people in attendance as if they were some UN flood relief convoy. Their throngs of admirers immediately begin to disperse and head towards the nearest through way to hug and hold these souls. Some onlookers wave frantically as if it were hard to spot their manic gestures of joy in the pool of closely packed sardines. This is when it starts to get crowded on the walkway and the remaining citizens of this bruised and battered country burst onto the ramp. The runway is quickly lost amongst this onslaught of tired travelers and their super sized shopping carts. This cues onlookers like me to start searching for my own guests and emulate the acts of affection I myself have just witnessed. At the end of it all -- the wait, the odours, the crowds and the amusing showcase of different sects of travellers a sense of belonging and reuniting with one's own family is what it's all about.
|
|
starring Ava Gardner, the railway lines are portrayed as the backbone and
lifelines of British India. Indeed, Railways was an important institution of
the Raj in the heydays and the principal mode of travel on the vast expanse
of the subcontinent. The station waiting rooms were busy social hubs where
passengers in transit intermingled with other fellow travellers.
interest in its purchase. Next they get it declared 'dangerous' by appointing
their own team of 'experts'. Files and paperwork are pushed forward by paying
huge bribes that eventually line the pockets of everybody from top to bottom.
Finally, a team of colluding officials hastily sell it off in a sham auction
and seal the deal. Inevitably, as happens so often, the historic building is
torn down by the new custodians in a matter of days to make yet another
concrete monstrosity. Yes you guessed it -- a shopping plaza!
decided to bless our humble airfield in Islamabad. The flip chart Information
window, a relic of some three decades ago, whirls round and round like some
cheap slot machine. I sweat it out standing there praying for the big kitty,
anything but 'Delayed' I pleaded. The airline Gods must have tired of this
silly game they played everyday at this small shack of an airport. Finally
the yellow light turned to green and I blinked back the anguish in my eyes.