To my mind the most important historic undertaking in Lahore, in the Punjab and for that matter in Pakistan, is the manner in which the Lahore Archives is being handled. One top British archivist thinks it is ‘appalling … a total disaster’ he says.

That this important undertaking planned in the ‘haveli’ of Kharrak Singh inside the Lahore Fort is not being undertaken as an archive but more like the posh resting and relaxing rooms of our bureaucrats and politicians. Then there is a clash between the Archaeology Department and the Walled City Lahore Authority, as well as between a highly dubious ‘heritage’ organization backed by a half-literate political leader.

Just who is running the show that is also vague. It seems that the newly created ‘heritage’ show has a former WCLA leader, and it is common belief – officially not true - that they are out to undo the WCLA itself, which is now ‘officially’ headed by a Punjab Government bureaucrat. Professionals are actively avoided.

That the Archaeology Department, that was historically since British colonial days running the Lahore Fort and legally remain the inheritors of the ancient monuments as agreed with UNESCO, have had their amazing archives confiscated and put in the ‘haveli’ of Kharrak Singh, while their office is housed outside in a Punjab Government building near the Mall. Nowhere on Mother Earth do such things happen.

The plan was to combine the original Punjab Archives now in the tomb of Anarkali and the old Sikh-era horse stables with the archives of the archaeology department. This combination would make it the finest and the world’s largest archives of the times from Akbar the Mughal invader to present times in the area from Kashmir to Multan and Kabul to Delhi.

But our bureaucrats, present and past, think otherwise. They need posh polished wooden furniture with leather fittings to relax. They have no idea just how archives are stored and kept and made available to serious researchers. The UNESCO rules for archives are very clear. The Punjab Government, in practical terms, is not bothered.

Wood is never, repeat, never used because over time, virtually invisible to the eye, various worms emerge. Among them are carpenter ants and bees, bark beetles, termites, moths, wood boring weevils, wood worms, furniture beetles, old house borers and bark borers among others. All these eat into archives be it paper or cloth or wood. In a way our ancient archives are up for destruction.

At the ‘haveli’ of Kharrak Singh you will see nothing but shiny new wooden shelves and cupboards and sofas and tables. The walls have modern oil-based paint and the reading rooms and ‘resting’ rooms are massive and a complete waste of space.

The question is how will the space be created for the Punjab Secretariat Archives? Who will understand what these archives are? How will the people of this land, let alone the few scholars, local and foreign, be able to benefit from these archives, which in a way is the almost complete history of our past over the last five centuries?

The answer lies in the message sent by the 99-year-old Lahore sage, Syed Babar Ali, at the launch of two new books on Lahore by yours truly at LUMS on Thursday last. He urges the universities and colleges and schools of Lahore to design and teach ‘the history of Lahore’ and also ‘the history of the Punjab’. There just seems little interest, even among academics let alone our rulers, to move out of ‘colonial-era’ histories and learn about ourselves and our land and cities.

Just last week one of Britain’s leading archivist of Cambridge University, visited Lahore and went to the ‘haveli’ of Kharrak Singh. What he saw shocked him. “What they are doing is not what an archive building and environment should be. It is a disaster”.

By sheer coincidence a cousin, Ume Salama, an educationist of repute in England, was visiting Lahore and she sent me photographs of the ‘haveli’. It doubly confirmed what we have stated above. The Lahore ruling classes have no idea about what a science-based archive building is, let alone worry about our last.

If anything, they are busy trying to undo the WCLA and take control over the walled city and the fort, so that they can secretly ‘prosper’ by its control by carrying out illegal activities. Mind you the WCLA is an organization that implements life inside the old walled city and historic monuments.

But these murky rulers have brought about legal changes whereby even historic buildings can – and have been - be knocked down and new ugly cement-based multistorey shopping plazas built. Legally only 15 per cent of the old city, or any residential area, are allowed commercial buildings. Old Lahore has to date 67 per cent, and the destruction not only continues, but for a ‘price’ continues.

Over the last week a visit to the Punjab Secretariat ‘archives’ storing area in the Sikh-era horse stable showed that rare archives continue to lay about like old. The ‘urine’ continued to flow from a nearby lavatory and a few documents lay in them. During a visit many years ago, I found a letter by Mirza Ghalib to the EIC wanting his pension restored, lay in urine. The Secretary Archives commented: “So what”.

This attitude continues. Through very reliable sources one learns that the current Chief Minister has been ‘instructed’ not to dwell in the affairs of the old walled city and the fort. I hope this is not true. I realise that they will deny it and then silence will follow.

The question is just what needs to be done? Firstly, will the world’s finest archives – if that is managed – function well within the confines of a ‘haveli’ inside a protected monument like the Lahore Fort? My view, as is that of other experts, is a massive NO.

Whichever building is finally agreed to, the storage cupboards should not be of shiny wood, but of non-rusting iron as is the case all over the world. The environment should be ‘strictly and continuously’ controlled with temperature, light and moisture strictly to order with a reliable energy source. The rest room should suit the needs of an archive, certainly not for spoilt bureaucrats.

Added to this there is a need for a complex computer-based record of the entire archive, so that without going to the building scholars all over the world, for a reasonable price, they will be able to study them. There is a need to learn about our past.

But even more important are two things. Firstly, our schools and colleges and universities must show interest in our history, which they at the moment do not. Courses to this end need to be devised and designed. Secondly, an organization handling the archives needs to be professional, and very honest. Is that a huge ask? Probably it is!!!!

Published in Dawn, September 1st, 2025