Heritage turning into a warehouse
Enter the Kashmiri Gate, one of the thirteen gates of the Walled City, and take a turn to the Kashmiri Gahtti. You will find yourself on the highest point of the walled city, which is located on a mound. Here you can take a look at the whole walled city, now showing cemented structures and blue collared water tanks on every roof top.
Right there is the Bangla Ayub Shah, which is not much known among the masses and neither is it a tourist spot, regrettably. Bangla Ayub Shah was built in the Sikh period but who built it is now a mystery. In 1849, it was taken over by an Afgahn chieftain by the name of Ayub Shah. He rebuilt the building and later sold it to the Afghan Royal’s Chief Shazada Sultan. In 1960 the family sold most part of the property and only one third of this famous Bangla is left now. Bangla Ayub Shah was important as the “secret escape tunnels” emerged from there and headed towards River Ravi and Delhi Darwaza.
Many of the heritage buildings and especially the Havelis have been turned into plazas without any check
Originally the Bangla was a three storey building having two basements and a ground floor. As we see today, the major portion of the building has fallen apart. The building was built with small sized bricks. The roofs were wooden composed of beam and batten system. The roman style veranda on the front side still exists fortunately. The exterior and interior was finished with lime plaster as seen from the remains. The Bangla has almost collapsed and in the very near future there will be hardly any remains. I should mention here that I had visited it almost three months ago; I hope it is there till now.
To my surprise, no authority is looking after this building. It must be a magnificent building rather a palace in the past, but now it is in ruins and near death. On both the sides of the building one can see high-rise plazas which must be illegal constructions; as per my knowledge construction is banned in the walled city, but who can fight against the plaza mafia and the political pressures?
Many of the heritage buildings and especially the Havelis have been turned into plazas without any check. The ugly cemented blocks are eating our heritage. I am afraid that soon we will be left with nothing to show to our coming generations.
To my knowledge the Bangla Ayub Shah is in City District Government Lahore’s possession, but there is no treatment of the building in terms of conservation or even restoration. The parking area of the Bangla is taken over by the plaza mafia, which has set up a resting cum sitting place there. I tried to go inside the building but the crude treatment of the local contractors barred my entry.
Bangla Ayub Shahis situated inside Kashmir Gate. Ayub ka Bangla was built in Sikh period
For the information of the authorities, illegal construction is still thriving and maybe someone reading this piece will help take some constructive action in stopping this menace. I wonder why no importance is given to the heritage we possess. Many areas inside Kashmiri Gate, Mochi and Lohari are turned into plazas and godowns, which is strange. Soon, rather very soon, we will lose all we have of our ancestors.
The building, if restored, is a masterpiece of architecture. It can be easily turned into a café, a museum or a gallery as it has a good access from the main road and also the parking facility. All around the world such places are converted into tourist spots, but what are we doing in Pakistan? As we claim, “Largest Cultural Hub of Pakistan” soon we will not be able to claim a bit.
Why do we need so many markets, why can’t these commercial centres be shifted elsewhere? Why must they be inside the walled city where they are cancerous to our heritage? I hope I play my bit for saving the heritage and the rest is up to the authority controlling the area. I hope someone wakes up!