KARACHI, May 13: The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan has expressed great concern over the federal government’s decision to relocate the artefacts of the department of archaeology and museums from Karachi to Lahore, says a press release.
It adds that the decision of the federal government to close down the department of archeology and museums in Karachi and shift all its antiquities and library, etc. to Lahore violates the basic rights of the people of Sindh. It undermines the principles governing the preservation of cultural heritage of all people. Furthermore, the decision will have an adverse effect on officials of the department who are, reportedly, expected either to move to Lahore or face retirement. This is in direct violation of the right to employment.
The HRCP Council warned that such a decision will cause great resentment among the people of Sindh and will further deteriorate the already worsening relations between the provinces. The Council members also questioned the legality of such a decision and demanded that it be withdrawn immediately.
Former federal minister of law and human rights Iqbal Haider expressed regrets and disappointment over the fact that, instead of redressing the genuine grievance of the people of Sindh, two different contradictory and misleading clarifications had been issued to further hoodwink the people of Sindh on the issue of shifting, by the department of archaeology and museums, of the invaluable antiquities and precious books, including original manuscripts, from Karachi to the Lahore Fort.
“This inescapable conclusion is obvious from the plain reading of the original order of May 3 about the shifting as well as the informal denial of the worthy information minister as reported in Dawn on May 13 and the clarification issued by the department of archaeology and released by the official news agency, APP, from Islamabad on May 11 and repeated again on May 13 from Karachi.”
Mr Haider said in view of the outrage against the aforesaid decision of the federal government and its condemnation by all sections of society in Sindh in an attempt to pacify the people of Sindh, the federal minister of information, Nisar A. Memon, while talking to PPI as reported in Dawn on May 13, stated that he had spoken to the Federal Minister of Culture, S. K. Tressler, by phone in Islamabad who told him that no artefacts from Karachi were being shifted to Lahore and only the office of the director-general of the department of archaeology was being moved from Karachi to Lahore and as such he would be taking files and necessary documents with him to his new office.
He said the aforesaid unofficial denial by the federal minister was directly in conflict with, and contrary to, what had been stated in the official clarification issued by the department of archaeology, which had been released by APP from Islamabad on May 11 and in utter disrespect to the denial of the federal minister appearing in Dawn on May 13 had repeated the same point of view and clarification on May 13.
“The so-called clarification not only confirms the decision of May 3 but also adds insult to injury by emphasizing that (a) the department of archaeology and museums is a federal department which is supposed to be located in Islamabad like other departments; (b) that location of the headquarters away from the capital causes avoidable difficulties and expenditure; (c) the library is meant for official use only and its location near Islamabad will not affect the ability of people elsewhere to do research and (d) that the antiquities from the National Museum of Karachi are not being shifted to Lahore.
“The so-called clarification from the department of archaeology is most misleading, evasive and deceptive and also in conflict with the decision announced on May 3 in as much as that: (a) the May 3 decision provided for shifting to the Lahore Fort. Whereas the clarification is justifying the shifting to Taxila, Islamabad and/or the Lahore Fort; (b) the irrefutable fact is that the library located in Karachi is not only for the use of the officials of the department but also being used by professors, scholars, anthropologists, and intellectuals of Sindh; (c) the decision of May 3 is in respect of the antiquities and artefacts maintained by the department in Hafiz Plaza on Sharea Faisal, and not in the National Museum at Karachi. Whereas the clarification strangely refers to the National Museum at Karachi. This reference is irrelevant to the issue. Hence, the clarification does not deny the shifting of the antiquities from its present premises, that is, the exploration branch in Hafiz Plaza.”
The Pakistan People’s Party termed the clarification of the government regarding the relocation of the department of archaeology to Lahore and theft of seals from the Moenjodaro museum highly unsatisfactory and misleading.
PPP central leader Syed Qaim Ali Shah, speaking to party workers here at Bilawal House on Monday, said the decision of shifting Sindh’s cultural heritage to Lahore would push the country into a crisis.
He alleged all those people who supported federalism were not allowed direct interaction with the masses. But those who wanted to bury the constitution and the federation had become great frontmen of the government.
