LAHORE: Putting the controversy regarding the takeover of the historical building of Asif Jah Haveli, housing a women’s college in the Walled City of Lahore, to rest, the Punjab government says it only wants to preserve the dilapidated structure.

The Lahore Heritage Areas Revival (LAHR) Project, headed by PML-N President Nawaz Sharif, reportedly envisaged takeover of the Asif Jah Haveli in Chuna Mandi, which houses the Government Fatima Jinnah College for Women, for its restoration for tourism purposes.

In this regard, the provincial government was said to be planning to either shift the college students and faculty to some other institutions, or provide them a separate building. Of late, the college students staged protests, demanding the government not to relocate them.

The Maryam Nawaz administration, however, says it has no such plan to shift the college students and teachers from this historical building.

“The Punjab government has no plan to shift the college (somewhere else) from this building. In fact, we are going to conserve this historical building. During the inspection of the building, it was noted that its roofs are shabby and needed immediate preservation. Therefore, our decision is to only launch the college building’s conservation,” Punjab Information and Culture Minister Azma Bokhari told Dawn on Friday.

A source told Dawn that last month some bureaucrats visited the college and told the principal and advisory members that the government had decided to close this college and shift the students to three nearby colleges, and its building would be converted into an officer’s club or hotel.

“Some 1,500 students of the college hail from the narrow, congested lanes of the walled city. They belong to conservative, modest households that view this campus as a unique, safe and accessible place,” he said, adding that displacing the college’s students is tantamount to effectively terminating the educational careers of hundreds of young women whose families cannot and will not permit them to travel to distant institutions.

The current condition of the college building is not good. “For the last few years, the college building has been rented out frequently [for events], that caused damage to it,” he said, adding that the Board of Governors (BoGs), which is necessary for the smooth running of college affairs, has seized to exist since 2021, but the higher authorities are not paying heed to this matter.

“The students are causing little harm to the building, but the actual damage to the building is done by the frequent functions held there. The college has been converted into a ‘wedding hall’ and a ‘shooting site’ for different brands. The functions are held even during weekdays and in the college hours, around 100 to 150 male workers roam about in the college, preparing for evening functions. It is very insecure for female students to be moving about in the college in the presence of these male workers. The floors of some areas of college have turned greasy because of the food prepared there for the functions. Sometimes the college is even closed for academics because of these functions,” he lamented.

Before the establishment of the Government Fatima Jinnah College for Women in mid 1980s during the tenure of the then chief minister, Nawaz Sharif, it was known as Asif Jah’s Haveli.

The building of the college is 400 years old and was built by Abu’l-Hasan Asaf Khan, the Grand Vizier (prime minister) of the Mughal emperor Jahangir. It was also used by Dhian Singh, a minister of the Sikh empire. After the British defeated the Sikh empire, the building was taken over and used as the office of the assistant commissioner. In 1864, the haveli was used by the Government College, Lahore and the Oriental College, Lahore, for holding the preliminary classes. In 1871, the Government College, Lahore, was shifted to a new building and the haveli was converted into Dhiyan Singh School, which was renamed in 1947 as City Muslim League High School.

From its grand entrance gateway to its expansive courtyard, semi-arched corridors, magnificent halls, cool basements, royal hammams, intricately carved jharokas, and vibrant frescoes, this building exemplifies the finest elements of royal residential architecture.

Published in Dawn, April 25th, 2026