A very secret and silent invasion has taken place on one of the most historic landscapes in Pakistan. And unfortunately very few people know about it because the history or the monuments of bygone days cannot protest, they cannot raise their voices and the invasion engulfs them silently.
The invasion is like the Israelis, creeping upon the Palestinians with bulldozers and guns with silencers, occupying their ancestral lands, although promising that they will be compensated according to the laws laid out by themselves and then on that occupied land, building their settlements, raising walls to keep away the locals, polluting fresh water streams, devastating ancient olive orchards, all in the name of progress.
In Pakistan, this invasion is made of pure cement, durable and everlasting turning the whole population of at least fifty villages into living fossils. The landscape I am referring to is the famous Salt Range, which will turn into a ‘cement range’ if this invasion is not stopped or limited immediately. It will not be out of place if I describe some of the historical jewels scattered all over the Salt Range, presently under threat from the cement invasion.
The first and foremost is Katas or Katakshila Temple complex which dates back to the Buddhist era, situated at a distance of 2.2 kilometres from Chua Saidan Shah. Besides small Buddhist stupas, there is a temple complex initially built by the Buddhists and latter on, by the Hindus who turned it into a place of worship according to their beliefs. Locally it is called “Satgrah”. In the middle of this temple complex, there is an ancient pond, fed by the waters sprouting from its bed; it has been claimed that the depth of this pond has never been fathomed.
According to Hindu mythology, Lord Shiva had seven wives and when one of them, his very favourite, died, he shed so many tears in her grief that his endless tears formed this pond. The pond is not merely a historic decoration; it is not only a source of fresh water to thousands of people but also irrigates orchards sprawling on tens of thousands acres of land.
After quenching the thirst of people and their land, this source which flows throughout the year, finally merges into the waters of the river Jehlum. It is believed that Al-Beruni stayed here and calculated the circumference of the earth from a hill nearby. It is indeed amazing as to how this man managed to calculate the circumference in those days with simple instruments, when in recent time the same was measured with the most sophisticated equipment. There was hardly a difference of few thousand feet from Al-Beruni’s findings.
Near Katas Raj there is a village Dhok Amir Khatun where during excavations under the supervision of Ahmad Hasan Dani, fossils of a mammal, dating back to ten million years, were found.
Kallar Kahar Lake, although not much of a lake, is known for the garden “Bagh-e-Safa” which was laid out by Mughal emperor Babar. The seat of Babar or Takht-e-Babri is also nearby, from where the emperor used to enjoy the panoramic view of the surroundings. Kallar Kahar is mentioned in Tuzke Babri also.
The third most important sight is “Gumdhala” or “Gandhala” which could be the corrupted version of Gandhara as its origin again is Buddhist. It is said that with the advent of Hinduism, the local Buddhist population chose to live on the adjoining hillocks where they were safe from the onslaught of invaders.
This is, in short, the historical perspective of this area. However, there are some ground realities to be considered also.
Almost 60 per cent of the area’s people serve in the armed forces and work abroad, specially in Middle East and Saudi Arabia. Rest of the 40 per cent, mostly woman, children and the elderly, look after the cattle and work in their meagre agricultural land, sowing maize, barley and sesame. The land holdings are very small and the crops not only provide sustenance to people but the domestic animals as well. The whole area from Kallar Kahar up to Chua Saidan Shah is in the form of a corridor and is called “Kahun” by the locals.
The people overall are content with their simple living and are never known to agitate for their legal rights, perhaps a Buddhist streak.
Now in this valley of serenity and content, at an elevation of 2470 feet from the sea level, rightly called a mini-Skardu, enters the dragon of six cement factories and a thermal power plant, fuming with pure carbon dioxide into the 100 per cent pure air of this valley, loved by Emperor Babar. In the madness of industrialization, nobody including the government, gave a hoot as to the havoc these cement factories are going to play on the environment, local population and the historical monuments.
These factories have gobbled up at least 80 per cent of already poverty stricken farmer’s land; they have been promised compensation naturally but it will be according some 1962 rule or regulation which amounts to peanuts. As yet, the farmers haven’t accepted any compensation. Those who protested, were declared terrorists, like the Palestinians.
To feed these factories the surrounding mountains will be blasted and decimated, the tremors effecting all the historical sights including the Katas complex. Beside the blasting, the chemical fumes discharged in the process will cause, according to the medical experts, cancer of the lungs, cell mutation and pollution of fresh water streams, though the factories claim that they have imported very modern plants to control the pollution. I remember the same argument was put forward when the Kala Shah Kaku chemical plants were being erected next to the G.T. Road and today you can smell the fumes when you are miles away from these factories. The famous Nullah Dek, a pure water stream, a heaven for the anglers when it used to teem with all kinds of fish, has turned into a chemical waste pond. In the next few years, the Salt Range is going to be a wasteland of polluted streams, abandoned villages and crumbling monuments.
According to Mr Zafar Malik, a local resident the area resembles an occupied land with boundaries at times jutting into homes and armed guards to keep away the ‘terrorists’. Why for heavens sake were these factories not built away from the populated area, as from there onwards, there is no population for 150 kilometres; just the mountains and forest.
Normally when industries are setup in far-flung areas, the maximum number of locals are employed, a compensation of sorts for their dislocation. But till this date, the locals are shunned as natives and the working force in being “imported”. Where are all those NGO’s, with hefty purses bulging with dollars who cannot sleep during the nights, worrying themselves to death about the pollution hazards in Pakistan, organizing petite walks on the pavement of the capital, provided the weather is not too harsh for their makeup? Perhaps they are waiting for the Salt Range to turn into a wasteland so that some day an Eliot will create a poetical masterpiece.
The tears of Lord Shiva, formed a fresh water pond amidst the Katas complex but the tears of poverty-stricken farmers of Salt Range are not enough even to fill a cup of justice.
