Greek architect Doxiadus who planned Islamabad belonged to Athens where the 3,000-year-old ruins of Acropolis are proudly preserved for the tourist. But Doxiadus seems to have given no thought to preserving the heritage of the area when he prepared the Master Plan for Islamabad. Neither the local town planners were bothered about that. And the consequences are before us. The few heritage sites left in the area are suffering from neglect and their full potential as an attraction for cultural tourism is not fully recognised.

The vestiges of the rich culture of the Potohar region are slowly fading away and commercialism in the name of development has taken Islamabad the Beautiful by storm.

Ancient temples and shrines are falling apart and old villages are being demolished to be replaced with multi-storeyed buildings and gaudy homes.

In the few cases where the CDA has made an effort to preserve historic sites, the process is being carried out in a manner that negates the concept of preservation.

According to a news report published on September 10, CDA has engaged a private firm to install fibre glass shelters in Loi Dandi, the spiritual retreat of Barri Imam in the Margalla Hills. Loi Dandi is in most pristine conditions and the building of fibre glass structures on this particular site does not help the cause of preservation. This place should ideally have shelters made out of natural materials.

Interesting but well preserved villages, historic landscapes with old trees, museums and historic buildings, are a big draw for foreign tourists and for locals interested in history and cultural heritage of their land. Unfortunately this is what is lacking in Islamabad. Little attention has been given to Heritage Protection of this area which is so important for this beautiful but artificial city where the balance between modernisation and a sense of pride in heritage is lost.

Thanks to Dawn this writer got a chance to visit the temple at Rawal Dam — one of the most popular tourist sites in Islamabad. Close to the main parking lot and behind the glitzy facade of the police post one can see the pointed top of an old Hindu temple which is in a very poor and neglected condition. The floor is strewn with rubbish and excrement, the roof is full of cobwebs, there are wasps and bee hives in the structure and various trees are growing out of cracks in the walls which will cause the temple to collapse in a few years time. This is a typical example of our apathy and neglect of heritage sites.

This temple has historical significance as it is a reminder of the legacy of the Rawals, a wandering tribe which settled here, and this is where the original Rawalpindi was situated. An old Banyan tree is hidden behind the kiosks, where food is served from a small restaurant. The temple at Rawal dam desperately needs restoration. A food street behind the Banyan tree at Rawal Dam with small kiosks having the Gandhara inspired fagade will look beautiful.

Neglect is the only word one can use for all the heritage sites of Islamabad, except for Loi Dandi. Time and again the original structures instead of being restored and preserved have been given new facelifts. This is what has happened to the main shrine of Bari Imam and the small mosque on Margalla road, where he preached. This mosque was a small humble structure built of stone with niches where ‘diyaas’ (oil lamps) were lit every Thursday. But in the late 70s a cleric took possession of the mosque. His fortune changed during military dictator Ziaul Haq’s Islamisation, and he transformed the heritage mosque into a three-storey structure with airconditioners.

Therefore it was a great delight to read in the newspaper that the CDA has devised a strategy of preservation of heritage sites. Eminent conservationist Kamil Khan Mumtaz is also being considered. Experts like Kamil should be hired because sensitivity and the awareness of the specific nature of these sites are of great importance.

Most of Saidpur villages need experts in preservation as it is going to have a major facelift very soon. Full credit goes to CDA for starting work in the village but the way it is done is simply repeating the past mistakes. Two shops are given facelift that is very aesthetic but not reflective of the architecture of the old houses. The most unique feature of the architecture of old houses is two terracotta flowers placed on two sides of an arched door. This would require reviving the craft of pottery and ceramics that has deteriorated over the years. But instead of reviving the craft, stone engravers of Taxila are employed to make arched niches that are not made out of schist stone but made out of baked bricks decorated with terracotta motifs.

Saidpur village is a historical place, mentioned in the Punjab Gazetteer of 1893-94, it has a history, and rich traditions especially of religious harmony where Muslims, Hindus and Sikhs lived together in peace. Saidpur needs to be preserved as a cultural heritage site for tourists and for future generations. Respect, recognition and understanding of the rich culture and traditions of Saidpur is very important while developing it into a tourist spot.

It is not known what is planned by the CDA for the temple. It was ‘protected’ by arsonists as a government school, but now the CDA has shifted the school to a remote part of Saidpur. This has been a source of great inconvenience for children and resentment for the parents.

Ideally, the old Hindu temple should be a place of worship for the Hindus but our present situation will not allow that, therefore it is hoped that the respect of a place of worship is ensured by turning it into a museum and not a restaurant or a hotel.

Saidpur is a tourists’ haven, with its old market and narrow streets, old houses with carved wooden doors and windows, Zinda Pir’s Bethak and the old Hindu temple and that is how it should be developed. The most unique feature of the Zinda Pir’s Bethak is a shrine of a woman, and it is heartening to see the villagers lighting ‘diyaas’ at a woman’s tomb and paying her respect. According to information received from some villagers over a hundred houses on both the sides of the central stream have been marked for demolition, to make way for a board walk and a road that will go to the CDA restaurant in Pir Sohawa.

Old villages with narrow lanes and tiny shops are an enormous attraction in the countries along the Mediterranean Coast and the excitement of tourists when meandering through the historic lanes. Saidpur has the same features, therefore taking 30 feet away from both the sides of the central stream, venturing with bulldozers into Saidpur and destroying more than a 100 homes would demolish the last hope of not repeating the mistakes made in the past concerning preservation of historical sites.

Saidpur lacks sanitation and drainage system. All the narrow streets have open sewers and sewage drains into the main stream, this is where CDA needs to intervene.

When the CDA is considering experts in the field of preservation, one wonders therefore, why it took upon itself to disturb the heritage of Saidpur before an expert like Kamil Khan Mumtaz had been contacted. A young architect from Lahore, with limited knowledge of preserving delicate sites, is in the process of giving Saidpur an artificial facelift.

This village is famous for its potters with their traditional wheels. Often one reads that the original inhabitants, who insisted on staying, ensured the survival of the village. It has created its own ambience and should not be allowed to be turned into a ‘Modern nothing’.

It is requested that a thorough study is undertaken before causing so much hardship to the habitants of Saidpur. It is hoped that prior to a proper plan experts like Kamil Khan Mumtaz from Lahore, Yasmeen Lari from Karachi or any organisation with experience in heritage protection are involved in the preservation of Saidpur village and other heritage sites of Islamabad.—Fauzia Minallah