THE term ‘cultural heritage’ is often defined as “self-identification of a nation as it refers to the tangible traits of a people as a shared history.”

Their story, be it ancient or medieval, relies on the relics their ancestors left behind thru which their ethos is preserved.

In the West, every link to the past is preserved, as it is an irreplaceable treasure. In fact, the tourism industry thrives in part owing to historical monuments. A handsome income is generated by such tourism.

Pakistan should learn from the West. Despite scores of archaeological sites, we are among the list of countries that have endangered cultural heritage sites.

After the ‘devolution’ through the 18th Amendment, the only province that boosted tourism and carried out preservation of its cultural sites with requisition and purchase of land engulfed with archaeological sites is Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Punjab has a mixed record on this score. A few historical sites were demolished for mega projects while the magnificent Lahore Fort saw some conservational progress.

In the south, Sindh and Balochistan are the least culturally progressed provinces. Balochistan, after decades of foreign expeditions, has lost a number of priceless sites and museums:

The McMahon Museum in Quetta collapsed and was totally destroyed in the 1935 earthquake. The Sibi Museum was converted into a Jirga Hall that serves as a commercial complex. The Gwadar Museum has lost almost all of its artifacts, while the Kech/Turbat Museum has been defunct since the early 1990s.

The saddest part is that world heritage archaeological sites like Mehrgarh and Kili Gul Muhammad are no more on the ground.

It is about time we owned these cultural and historical sites irrespective of ethnic, cultural, political and provincial prejudicial perceptions.

Shakir Naseer
Quetta

Published in Dawn, March 12th, 2018