MUZAFFARGARH: The tomb of Nawab Tahir Khan Nahar, one of the oldest buildings in the district, has been declared dangerous by archaeology and buildings departments the responsibility of which rests with the authorities who ignored it.

The tomb is situated in Seetpur Town of Alipur tehsil, about 160km south of Multan and 90km from Muzaffargarh city. Its architecture resembles the tombs in Multan, but is smaller than them.

Nawab Tahir was a member of the Lodhi family. Legend has it that the Nawab defeated Princess Seeta Devi with the help of a small army to rid the locals of a ‘cruel’ ruler. In local language, Nahar means someone who tears a lion apart. According to the history, the Nawab fought with a hungry lion of Princess Seeta with his bare hands and tore it apart, hence the title.

When Nawab Tahir established his rule, he constructed this building and used it as his court. Later, he was buried in the same building.

Hundreds of people visited this historical building, but it is now in ruins. An archaeology department report published a few years ago recommended government authorities and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco) preserve the building, a decision which was yet to be finalised. Archaeology officials claimed they lacked the required funds to rehabilitate the building and were waiting for Unesco to carry out the necessary work as it had said it would in a letter written to the department three years ago. An official said more than half a dozen old buildings had been declared dangerous but due to lack of funds they were helpless.

During a meeting here on Wednesday at the district coordination officer’s office, people raised the issue and asked the district administration to save the tomb because it had history of Muzaffargarh associated with it. Other participants commented that the provincial government had even destroyed old buildings in Lahore during the construction of metro train and bus projects.

Published in Dawn November 19th, 2016