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Who will help save Frere Hall? While there is one view that the prestigious and popular Frere Hall has been lost to happy families enjoying holidays, and the happy-go-lucky individuals and groups, for the foreseeable future, there is another hopeful contention that if there is enough effort, besides an eloquent public opinion, the place could well become a cheerful bustling recreational spot, once again. And in the foreseeable future. The hope emanates from the fact that the official in charge of the Community Development department of the city government has indicated categorically that renovation work at Frere Hall would commence in the current financial year. One assumes that he knows what he is saying, and his words are in line with the priorities of the city government, and the provincial government too. For both the city and the Sindh governments have been held responsible in the story, "Historical monument, victim of government apathy", in this daily on Sept 30, for the state of this Karachi treasure. Security measures in place around the US Consulate-General and the US consul general's residence (both being located on two sides of the gardens, and Frere Hall) are also serving as stumbling blocks, when it comes to ensuring that the place is being properly maintained. What has surprised, and in fact disappointed me, is the fact that even those who speak of the greater good of the city have been silent on the subject of Frere Hall. Having said this I must admit that there is a passing thought that suggests that focusing on this place is to sound elitist? That there are far more critical areas of neglect, apathy, mismanagement, corruption, around us, which are literally crying for attention. Said one individual voice that if Frere Hall needed financial help, why couldn't the city's private and corporate sectors come forward for this. Karachi is a rich enough city, and why don't the rich pay back a little to the society from what they have got from this very city? The argument being that why the city government or, for that matter, Karachi Metropolitan Corporation of yesterday, were unable to foot a bill in this regard. But let us look at it this way. If a historical monument right in the heart of the 'elite' part of the city can be made to suffer and rot in fact, what must be the state of disrepair of parks, gardens, and monuments in other parts of Karachi, especially in the poorer and less developed ones. There is perhaps a certain symbolism in what is happening to Frere Hall. To that building, and the gardens, spacious and serene, one must emphasise. Is that apathy indicative of what the materialism of the urban growth is doing to the emotional and spiritual well-being of the city? To the people? And that it is only a small minority that is conscious of this, and speaks out on this issue. This reminds me that as a city there is a poor track record of what the community has been able to do about numerous parks and playgrounds, and other amenity plots being lost to rampant, ruthless, ravaging commercialization that has been going on for almost over 50 years. The scars and wounds of that injuring process, are more than dotted all over Karachi, and are evidence of how both ordinary and powerful people have abetted in this. Quite obviously, it is blatant disregard or ignorance of the moral and aesthetic values that a city or society needs for breathing. Little wonder then that the Frere Hall book fair is having problems even now as overdone security measures remain in place. Security measures. Indeed these are relevant, but at times appear so overdone. It seems that instead of quality and efficiency the emphasis is more on number. As if enhancing the number of law enforcers is the answer to the situation. Indeed, security, as a business proposition, has also spiralled into huge proportions and with the way in which terrorism and crime (born often of injustice and inequality of sorts) rise, there will be more 'security steps' in our lives. It is truly amazing to see the extent to which a person can be searched physically in this city, as a matter of routine, when he walks into a hotel or a restaurant or a bank or even a fashionable grocery store. Presumably, if that is the way we live what has happened to Frere Hall and its gardens, doesn't surprise. But it sure does disappoint, and makes one wonder where the place is headed if nothing is done about it. What was appalling in that report was the fact that the last major repairs were carried out in that precious historical building in 1986-87. That is almost 18-19 years now, and see the way in which Karachi has changed its face. That was about the time one is driven to recall when that Sir Syed Girls College's student, Bushra Zaidi, was killed in a road accident by a speeding bus. That was the period when riots broke out in the city, and in fact the amount of violence and bloodshed that Karachi has seen since those days is something that can be described as an era. An era of turmoil, and tragedy. So in all this Karachi's caretakers, (and many have come and gone) forgot about Frere Hall evidently. What else has been forgotten or accorded a lower priority, is something worth bothering about. Sometimes when the Abdullah Haroon Road is open to the public, and I am able to drive past the US Consulate-General, after sunset, the lights of Frere Hall are on, and this beautifully grand building, built in 1865, reminds the Karachi resident that this is a garden where he could spend some tranquil time. Just a thought, for in reality it is impossible! Security measures make it frustrating to get to it, if at all. And with the Japanese Consulate-General premises coming up opposite the Marriott Hotel, the implications of diplomatic security will render this part of the city virtually closed to the common man. In this focus, one cannot overlook the popular Sunday book fair that has been revived due to the sustained efforts of City Nazim Naimatullah Khan, but which is faced with the problems of visitors- parking problems and individual checks (like depositing of identity cards with the police). I cannot understand why the authorities concerned and the others who are involved in this security threat perception, cannot take genuine measures to ensure that the fair is held in the spirit that it calls for. That it encourages people to come to it. One cannot help but quote a very revealing paragraph from this Dawn report on Frere Hall. After the bomb blasts in 2002, security measures were tightened to such an extent in the area that it discouraged visitors, denying easy access to the gardens (Bagh-i-Jinnah). So the report says: "less visitors mean less complaints about the poor condition of the building and less complaints mean there is nothing that needs urgent attention." But one colleague was level headed as he said that the city and Sindh governments and their predecessors couldn't be absolved of the responsibility of the cruel neglect of this pretty place, as the security measures were only recent, about two years old. What about the remaining 17 years before that? Doesn't that illustrate not just the inefficiency of the departments concerned, but also a lack of vision and perspective both at official and societal levels? Please Visit our Sponsor (Ads open in separate window)
