KARACHI: A large number of books from the library of the provincial exploration and excavation department are being shifted temporarily from the rented office of the archaeology department to Pakistan Academy of Letters office near PTV station, Urdu Dictionary Board in Gulshan-i-Iqbal and a seminar library of the archives department in Clifton, sources said.

They were found packed in cartons near the empty shelves in the archaeology department office during a visit to the rented place in Hafiz Plaza on Sharea Faisal on Saturday.

The staff was not present due to the weekend, but there was a guard taking care of the cartons in an otherwise empty office.

Speaking to Dawn, joint secretary of federal archaeology department Mashoodi Raza said they were looking for a temporary space to keep the 75,000 books from the library. He said the move came shortly after they were asked to vacate the rented premises. “Also, this library is part of the federal government. We are only moving it to a particular area until we get a permanent arrangement for the books,” he added.

Deputy director of the exploration and excavation department Mohammad Shakir said: “The library is not being moved out of the city. We have moved some of the books to a seminar library in Clifton. Apart from that I have no information about any other books being shifted.”

Earlier this year, around 150,000 artefacts dating back to 9,000 years were moved from the rented office to the National Museum in Karachi.

Former secretary of antiquities Dr Kaleemullah Lashari feared that the shifting would eventually lead to the books being sent to Islamabad. “The library will eventually move to Islamabad. But under the principle of devolution, the directions have to come from the chief minister and only then it can be shifted,” he said.

Sindh Archaeology Director Qasim Ali Qasim told Dawn that the library had more than 25,000 books on archaeology, history of architecture and related subjects.

About the library shifting, he said: “We don’t have transfer orders for the library so there is no question of its removal. We won’t let it happen. This library is one of the biggest archaeology-based archives in the country.”

However, he did not mention as to who had ordered the books to be packed in cartons.

Dr Asma Ibrahim, director of the museum and art gallery department of the State Bank of Pakistan, said: “The library was moved to Hafiz Plaza in 1994 from the Shaheed-i-Millat office of the directorate of the department of archaeology and museum after rainwater accumulated on the ground floor of the building had ruined some books.

“After the devolution under the 18th constitutional amendment, there is an effort to move the library to Islamabad which is in violation of the law.”

In July, she said, some “precious artefacts were moved from the exploration and excavation department and dumped at the National Museum and are kept under worst conditions. If moved to Islamabad, these books, too, will face the same fate.”

Published in Dawn October 4th, 2015

On a mobile phone? Get the Dawn Mobile App: Apple Store | Google Play