PUNJAB has done well to adopt the Federal Antiquities Act 1975 which had become redundant after the devolution of historical monuments from the federation to the provinces under the 18th Amendment to the constitution. Punjab took charge of 149 monuments located on its territory and that of Islamabad, and set up an archaeology department to oversee and manage heritage sites. The provincial assembly has now amended the Federal Antiquities Act by incorporating provisions from the Special Premises (preservation) Act 1985 and Land Acquisition Act 1894 into the new provincial Antiquities Amendment Act 2012. This is a wise thing to do. It will ensure, under one umbrella law and one department, the management of historical monuments and sites, to be overseen by a dedicated committee comprising archaeologists, historians and elected representatives. Other provinces need to emulate this model to safeguard the many heritage sites that have now come into their custody, and whose upkeep and conservation is now the provinces’ sole responsibility.

However, in Punjab, concerns remain about the so-called ‘conservation’ work being carried out at certain monuments. Take, for instance, the 17th-century Shalamar Gardens, Lahore, which is enlisted by Unesco as a World Heritage site. Reports reveal the sorry fact that in the ongoing work at Shalamar, emphasis is placed on reconstructing rather than conserving the original walls and edifices. This is in contravention of international norms and amounts to defacing historical structures. The need is to employ full-time, conservationists from abroad to oversee such important projects because Pakistan lacks experts. There is thus a case for setting up a conservation section as part of the provincial archaeology department to train conservationists, who will ensure that national heritage monuments are not left to the whims of building contractors and architects to do as they please with them.