SAHIWAL, Sept 30: A non-government organisation has organised an evening on “Harrapa and Sahiwal” as part of a series covering life in small towns.

The Trust for Art, History and Architecture, Pakistan (Thaap) initiative held in Lahore the other day will conclude with the third International Thaap Conference scheduled to be held in November.

A delegation of 30 people from three institutions -- Harrapa Museum, Punjab Lok Rahs and Punjab Lok Sujag -- attended the evening. Dr Mubarak Ali presided over the session which started with a pictorial presentation on Harrapa’s historical and archaeological treasures by the museum curator, Hasan Khokhar.

Mr Khokhar stressed the need for preserving Harrapa archaeological heritage and possessing 370-kanal museum land being protected under the Antiquity Act 1976. He told the audience that the Sahiwal district government had failed to hand over the protected land to the Archaeology Department for the last 10 years.

Rao Shafiq, an educationist gave a detailed account of the development of the district and its political evolution, highlighting the contributions of important personalities to its history. He highlighted the events and uprising of Sahiwal people against the British Imperialism in 1857 near Gogera district.

A theatre group highlighted Ahmed Khan Kharral’s struggle for freedom in the area. The struggle was brought to life by actors from Punjab Lok Rahs, Sahiwal, who presented a well-articulated scene about Ahmed Khan Kharral, based on the Punjabi play, “Ik Raat Ravi Di” by Najam Hussain Syed.

Mr Shafiq of Punjab Lok Sujag shared his collection of 180 pictures under a caption “Aj daa Sahiwal: lafzan tay tasweeran de zabani’.

Dr Mubarik stressed the need for tracing small town’s cultural identity by local and indigenous human resources.

A thought-provoking discussion among the audience with comments and question-answer session followed the talk. Further, a show of paintings of famous artist of Sahiwal, the late Tariq Mirza, was arranged by Punjab Lok Sujag at the venue. A display of books by the Sahiwal Printing Press attracted the visitors.

Prof Pervaiz Vandal, Thaap conference convener, highlighted the objective of the organisation. The focus of this year’s conference, he said, was study of a town as an integrated view of life in the urban context, highlighting both the tangible and intangible cultural aspects.