Saving Heritage

Not a day passes when we are not reminded of the gradual erosion of our heritage. It is time that we thought of different solutions than a bureaucratic conservation model…

From the daily DAWN

“SUCH is the state of neglect that even the shocking sometimes fails to have the intended effect. For instance, no alarm bells rang after the New York-based World Monuments Fund listed two Pakistani sites in its biennial report on the 100 most endangered cultural heritage sites. The WMF warns that the Thatta monuments, also known as the Makli graveyard, and the Mian Nasir Mohammad graveyard in district Dadu are under serious threat from neglect and the ravages of time. Erosion is rapidly degrading the Samma-era Thatta monuments, a vast necropolis that is one of only six Pakistani sites on Unesco’s World Heritage List, while the Mian Nasir Mohammad graveyard of the Kalhoro rulers is at the mercy of waterlogging and salinity. Both sites are in urgent need of protection, the WMF report points out. In the case of Makli, help may be forthcoming from Unesco which is raising funds for its preservation.

These are not isolated cases….” story continues here

The image (above- left) shows a dying monument at the Mian Nasir graveyard and the images on the right and below are from Makli. Even the photographs speak of neglect.