OWNERSHIP of Karachi’s historic (read: pre-independence) buildings and parks has been an issue that itself has a bit of a history. Going through old newspaper files will give you an idea that it was from the early 1960s that the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) and the Central Archeological Department (CAD) were engaged in a tussle about who owned Frere Hall and Burnes Gardens. (Even today, Frere Hall is in the news for somewhat similar reasons, which require a separate and detailed piece.)

On July 2, 1969, this newspaper reported that after eight years of ‘weary’ dispute, the KMC and the CAD had come to an agreement with regards to the ownership of the century-old Frere Hall building and the lush and spacious Burnes Gardens. According to the compromise formula reached by the two parties, the corporation agreed to hand over the Gardens, with the staff quarters, to the Archaeological Department — and in exchange would receive Frere Hall. The agreement clarified that the KMC, however, would retain the Aiwan-i-Rifat and Paen Bagh, an annex to the Gardens separated by a storm-water drain.

The compromise followed the efforts to settle the dispute outside the court. A detailed agreement, though, was to be signed by the two departments in the court. For the last eight years, the issue had been lingering on at the cost of citizens’ discomfort. They could not make full use of the spacious Burnes Gardens as the premises were closed to the public. And lying in neglect, many of the lawns had been ravaged, much of its greenery had begun to wither and the pretty flowers were no more there. The KMC also suffered an annual loss of about Rs10,000 as it could not give away the contract for the sale of fruits that could be had from the gardens. And in turn, the National Museum, housed in the monumental Frere Hall building, was crowded and the display did not receive due prominence. Work on the new museum building inside the Gardens had started soon after the dispute began and the construction was completed some time ago; but the pubic opening was held off because of the disagreements.

The KMC in those days was a very proactive administrative unit. Whether it was able to yield the results that it desired was a different story. On July 4, the corporation announced that from that day onwards, every Friday would be a ‘free-day’ for women and children visiting the Karachi Zoo. Up until then, the zoo was open to women and children on Fridays but they were charged the normal entrance fee.

Staying on the subject of recreation and entertainment, on July 4, a new Urdu comedy, Aasman Se Gira, opened at the Adamjee Science College auditorium. Adapted from English play All For Mary, which had also been previously staged in Karachi, Aasman Se Gira made good use of the hilarious situations from the original script. The cast, headed by Pervez Dastur and Meherji Dastur, did a fine job in tickling the audience’s funny bones. Though the situations, revolving around the present and former husbands of a woman huddled together in one room at a hill resort, remained foreign to conditions for life in Pakistan, the play proved entertaining. It was presented by a new society

— Seekers — and its cast, apart from the above-mentioned two actors, included Qurban Jilani, Zia Hussain and Khursheed Kanwal.

Published in Dawn, July 1st, 2019