JOHN Marshall, who served as director general of archaeology, excavated the Moenjodaro sight in 1922. He contributed greatly to the excavation of various sights, which include Moenjodaro, Harappa, Sohr Damb, etc.

His official car, a Ford, was on display in a rather shabby garage at Moenjodaro. The car was a 1901 model made in Canada. I visited the museum in 2016 and learnt that the car had been sent for repairs to Karachi on the orders of the then Sindh Minister for Culture, Syed Sardar Ali Shah.

This was heartening news as the car was in a miserable state and needed attention. However, it has been more than two years, but the car has still not been brought back to Moenjodaro Museum. Since it is the property of the museum, the authorities concerned should bring the car back to where it belongs so that the tourists visiting the sight can have a look at it and perhaps take a picture or two with this antique car.

Shehnila Zardari

Karachi

Published in Dawn, August 13th, 2018