Recently the ‘caretaker’ government decided that the Walled City of Lahore Authority (WCLA) law would be changed and every city and historic monument in Punjab would come under its preview. It is a true case of the law being made an ‘ass’.

When the WCLA law was promulgated in 2012 this column praised the act. But with time given the incompetent governance of the province it was impression that the heritage department and the archaeology departments were useless pastimes. The illiteracy of the country was reflected in this change. So, these ‘useless’ departments made by the British, came under the preview of this sole city’s conservation ‘authority’.

As the world considers the monuments of Lahore worth keeping an eye on so they accordingly fund projects for it. But after ancient cities like Multan and Sialkot and Bhera, just to name a few, which have even older monuments, have come under the WCLA’s preview, surely there must be something terribly wrong. That’s why we must take a brief look at the three other Punjab cities named above.

Firstly, a brief look at Multan. According to the historian Firishta, legend has it that it was set up by the great-grandson of Prophet Noah much before 3,000 BC and was the home of the original Aryans, all of Iranian descent (‘History of Hindostan’, J.Walker). Several research books point to this direction.

Mind you, Multan was the capital of Punjab for most of the 2,000 years from 500BC to 1500CE. The city is mentioned in the Vedas and was conquered by Darius the Great of Iran in the 500 BC. It was a major city of the Gandharan Civilisation.

Then came the Greek invader Alexander in 327BC and looted the city. Ironically, when he was returning home after his troops refused to fight more against the Punjabis, he was hit by a poisoned arrow in Multan, only to die of the wound in Egypt. The history of Multan is, probably, the oldest among the functioning urban areas of the Indus Civilisation.

Then after a few trial sorties in the Muslim era came Muhammad bin Qasim, the Arab invader and looter, who conquered Multan. He found 13,300 maunds of gold in chests, which were shipped to Basra along with slaves from Multan. To supress the people of Multan, he destroyed the watercourses, so the people would die of thirst.

After Qasim, came Mahmud of Ghazni who overran it twice, with Al-Biruni describing how he destroyed the magnificent Sun Temple, taking back females and young boys as slaves. The 10th century ‘Hudud-i-Alam’ says that Multan ruled Lahore till then via the Hindushahi rulers. Most of the population of Multan was Qarmatiam Syed from Mecca, and to this day, Multan hosts the most Syeds.

The fort of Multan, which still stands, is among the oldest in the sub-continent, with the last army to destroy a portion being Maharajah Ranjit Singh using the famous Zamzama ‘toap’. The monuments of Multan are varied, ancient and of immense historic value. The trouble is that no one has bothered about conserving them. Strangely, almost 20 years ago, the Pakistan Army Corps Commander of Multan, himself a Syed, tried to conserve a lot, but he was transferred. Silence reigns since then.

Secondly, let us move on to Bhera, the historic town which has been attacked over the centuries. Alexander attacked it and the battle with Porus was fought near Bhera. The ancient city walls are said to be over 2,000 years old. Mahmud of Ghazni ransacked the city in 1004AD before attacking Lahore in 1021AD. He took back a lot of gold and slaves.

This ancient city also attracted Genghis Khan who again killed off most of the resisting population. In 1519AD came Babur who again took back to Kabul gold and slaves. Then came a series of Afghan invaders, the last being Ahmed Shah Durrani in 1757.

Bhera is known in recent times for its intelligent people, among them being Balraj Sahni the actor, Hakeem Nooruddin the religious scholar, and, ironically, even the current Chief Election Commissioner, Sikander Sultan Raja.

A few years ago, a guest from India, Arjan Malhotra, came over and wanted to see his old city and house. What he saw sent him into silence. The exquisite walled city was in utter ruins. I drove him back in silence. But it was evident that this was once a great ancient walled city, which stands completely neglected.

Lastly, let us have a look at ancient Sialkot, today the world’s greatest football and sports equipment producer. This ancient city was known as Sakala and is mentioned many times in the Mahabharata, the ancient Sanskrit epic. The original population was the ‘Saka’ people from Central Asian, the original Aryans.

Greek writer Arrian writes that Alexander captured it from the Cathaeans. It remained the capital of Menander the First who rebuilt the original walls destroyed by Alexander. Most of the walls standing today, the few whose bricks traders have not been stolen, are pre-Alexander ones. In the end, Menander became a Buddhist, and because of this the entire city converted to Buddhism. It developed into a major Buddhist centre.

Then came the Alchon Huns who made it their capital. In a way, Sialkot served as a major nucleus of Punjab. Once the Hindu Shahi rulers of Lahore were defeated, they moved to Sialkot. In 1185, Muhammad Ghauri captured Sialkot and whatever he rebuilt stands today. In a way, Sialkot is as Ghauri left it. Amazingly, it was at Sialkot where Genghis Khan was first defeated by Iltitmush.

This city is known today as the city of Iqbal, the poet of Pakistan, Faiz Ahmed Faiz and the English language great poet Taufiq Rafat. Its intellectuals are also well-known. Most know Sialkot for the holy well of Puran Bhagat. The list is endless.

Given just these three examples, it makes sense that once a new government is in place, at least these three ancient cities should have their own ‘Walled City Authorities’. It makes great sense for the WCLA to stick to its original mandate, for its work is best for the city of Lahore. There is just so much to do in Lahore. At least the once ancient walls need to be rebuilt and the hundreds of lanes and mohallahs and thousands of houses repaired and conserved. Once done, this can be a major tourist city, earning much more than what the non-tax paying traders provide.

The need to pass silly laws should be shunned, and probably the only power to judge such matters should be the highest courts of the country. But then their hands are full of immediate matters.

Published in Dawn, December 31st, 2023