KARACHI, Dec 12: The Sindh High Court on Tuesday allowed the shifting of 60 memorabilia belonging to the founder of the nation from the Quaid-i-Azam House (formerly Flagstaff House) in Karachi to the National Museum in Islamabad.
The order was passed by a division bench comprising Chief Justice Sabihuddin Ahmed and Justice Faisal Arab on an application moved by the department of archaeology and museums and the federal ministry of culture.
The department said the relics were lying in the storage of the Quaid-i-Azam House for want of display space. The house consists of two bedrooms and a lounge on the first floor, and a drawing room, dining room and study on the ground floor. The space is totally filled up. The stored relics should be allowed to be taken to Islamabad for permanent display at the National Heritage Museum, the department requested.
The application was filed in a petition pending since 2002 against the shifting of the Central Archaeological Library and the antiquities being maintained at the archaeological department’s exploration and excavation branch at Hafiz Plaza, Sharea Faisal, Karachi, and certain artifacts displayed at the National Museum, Karachi.
The court had barred the shifting of antiquities from Karachi through an interim order in 2002, except for temporary display after taking due precaution for their safe return. The petition was filed by former administrator of the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation Fahim Zaman Khan, Prof Riazul Islam of the University of Karachi, and six others through Iqbal Haider and Malik Mohammad Ejaz.
Contesting the archaeology department’s application for transfer of the relics, the petitioners said most of them were ‘very fragile’ and in poor condition and moving them would be hazardous. There was plenty of space for their display at the Quaid-i-Azam House, including the outhouse and the servant quarters, they said. The SHC Nazir inspected the house in the presence of the director of the department under a court order and found many relics in ‘a very fragile condition’. An exhaustive inventory was prepared.
As the petition came up for hearing on Tuesday, Deputy Attorney-General Akhter Ali Mehmood said there would be no harm if the relics were shifted to the Islamabad museum for permanent display and proper maintenance and preservation. The only surviving administrator of the Quaid’s estate, Liaquat Merchant, had no objection either because the relics were not being displayed and lying in storage at Quaid-i-Azam House, which had been purchased by the federal government in the mid-1980s.
Among the 60 items allowed to be shifted are a wooden cabinet, leather boxes, engraved showcase, dressing table, sofa sets, kitchen cabinet, chairs and tables. Granting the application, the bench ordered that the Quaid’s clothing, including kurtas, pajamas, collars, and sherwanis should not be removed.
