THIS is apropos Sultan Ahmed Naqvi’s offer about his uncle Sadequain’s works (Jan 31) and the letter by Yogesh Sharma (Jan 4).

Mr Naqvi has made a generous offer to give away Sadequain’s works without charge. But is there any individual who or an organisation which can take the responsibility for the safety and preservation of such a treasure?

There are so many examples of negligence in this respect. The mural at the PIA office in Paris painted in 1966 disappeared a long time ago. The ceiling of the Lahore museum has been destroyed. It was a monumental work of 96 by 24 feet and a gift. Nobody knows about the remaining unaffected panels of it.

There are more than one fake works of Sadequain on display at the national gallery of arts at PNCA, Islamabad. The people at the helm of affairs cannot even recognise Sadequain’s signature.

On one of the calligraphies, Sadequain’s name is not written correctly. It is impossible that the great artist made that mistake.

This can be checked in the book The Legends of Sadequain published by Sadequain Foundation and written by Mr Salman Ahmad (page 121). The Karachi authorities are also guilty of negligence.

No one knows about the 40 large marble panels of Surah-i-Rahman which Sadequain had gifted to the people of Karachi in 1986.

A number of his works were stolen from Frere Hall in Karachi just after his death. This was reported by the press along with the news of his death.

In view of this track record, my advice to Mr Naqvi is not to give any of his uncle’s works to those who cannot take care of them.

As far as Mr Sharma’s argument is concerned, I feel that only Mr Naqvi can take care of such precious treasure like the way he has been taking care of it for the last 30 years.

Momin Khan

Karachi

Published in Dawn, February 10th, 2016