‘Who cares, it’s just a building’

In violation of its own ‘The Punjab Special Premises (Preservation) Ordinance, 1985,’ the Punjab government has made alterations in the historic Lakshmi Building that it had earlier declared to be a ‘special premise’. The Lakshmi Building, which was constructed way before the partition, is associated with the memories of Hindus and Sikhs. The Punjab government, however, has completely altered the look of the building by painting it camel white and blue. Apart from this, ‘AllahuAkbar’ has also been written on the top of the building. The history of the building traces back to the pre-partition era. The Lakshmi Building located on Lakshmi Chowk of today was owned by Lakshmi Insurance Corporation in 1935. It was later used by the Muslim League of Hindustan who gathered here for meetings and social events. This building also has the honour of housing renowned personalities like former PM Meraj Khalid, short story writer Saadat Hassan Manto, former FM Zafarullah Chaudhry and India’s petroleum minister Mani Shankar Aiyar.
After thorough investigation it was deduced that the change has been made specifically by the Town Municipal Authority in a drive to renovate all the buildings present on that road since the CDGL plans to construct a new food street there. Unfortunately the CDGL was not familiar with legal and historical stance of the building as no permission was taken from the owner or the Punjab Archeology Department, the legal caretaker of the building.
‘SPECIAL PREMISE’
The structure is one of the 116 buildings in Lahore which has been declared as “special premises” by the Punjab government under The Punjab Special Premises (Preservation), Ordinance, 1985. The ordinance defines special buildings as “…premises of historical, cultural or architectural value declared as such by the Government by notification and includes the land externally appurtenant thereto and the outer walls thereof”.
The ordinance further clearly states that such building cannot be changed, altered or modified without the permission of the government.
The ordinance states “No alteration in or renovation, demolition or re-erection of such portion of a Special Premises as is visible from outside, or any part of such portion, shall be affected without the prior permission in writing of the Government or a Committee”. The ordinance while defining the penalty of such an offence states, “…Whoever contravenes the provisions of this Ordinance or the rules shall be liable to imprisonment which may extend to one year or with fine or with both…”
CARETAKER
The Lakshmi Building is looked after the Punjab Archeology Department which did not want the building to be altered. Punjab Archeology Department DG Haroon Ahmad refrained from commenting on the issue. However, Deputy Director Afzal Khan while talking to Pakistan Today said he had no clue as to who had changed the façade of the building. “We did not change it, I think the CDGL people would know,” said Khan. He added that the Archeology Department was neither asked nor informed about any alternation in the building by any department. “It’s just whitewash, it will wear off after one rainfall,” he said.
OWNER
The owner of the building happens to the mother of the former chairman of High Education Commission, Dr Attaur Rehman. “Nobody asked and nobody informed us of the changes in the building and we did not even know since we live in Karachi,” Rehman told Pakistan Today.
WHO DID IT?
When contacted, Data Ganj Bakhsh Town TMO Sadar Naseer Ahmad said, “I think the engineer has repainted the building but what is wrong in repainting that building?” he questioned. He said painting the building was not an issue and that it was done for the betterment.
When the engineer, Mian Muddassar was contacted he said no permission was needed to alter the building. “Who cares, it is just a building.”