Our endangered heritage

This photo had a sharp lens and a critical-enough eye to capture little details of  area around Delhi’s Red Fort.  Delhi’s Red Fort was once a symbol of Mughal power and the myriad India was ruled for centuries from this fort. It has continued to be the symbol of central power as the leaders make their national day appearances and speeches from this monument.

However, life is not static and nor are the contours of power and politics. Not only that a global chain well known for its unhealthy products has occupied the public aesthetic here, the senseless defiling of the wall with posters and adverts indicates a generic attitude to monuments in South Asia.

In Pakistan, similar monuments narrate a sad story of neglect and near-ruin.

I had posted pictures from the Lahore Railway Station  and another monument facing a similar treatment. An earlier post highlighted the condition of monuments in Sindh.

This suicidal approach is helping us move towards an abyss, a void where history is erased, heritage undermined and the stark present predicts an uncertain future.