LAHORE: The administration of Lahore Museum and visitors heaved a sigh of relief on Thursday as Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) leader Dr Tahir ul Qadri called off his party’s women-only sit-in at the Mall Road on Wednesday night.
The Lahore Museum was built during the British period from 1849 to 1947 and it is home to the country’s largest and oldest collection of historical, cultural and artistic objects. Its collections of Gandhara sculpture, miniature paintings, rare manuscripts and old coins are known throughout the world. The museum houses artefacts from many countries and regions such as Burma, Bhutan, Nepal, Tibet, Central Asia, the Middle East and Africa.
The museum had to bear the brunt of Pakistan Awami Tehreek’s (PAT) women sit-in on Wednesday and the museum administration remained on the toes the whole day. The number of visitors was also thin as roads leading to the museum were closed and a security risk existed because of the protest.
“The museum administration remained in a fix the whole day whether to close it or not,” said a museum staffer, who wished not to be named, while talking to Pakistan Today. He further elaborated that although the museum administration closed the main entrance for the visitors, there was still fear of any untoward attack from the protestors.
Speaking to Pakistan Today, Lahore Museum Director Humayun Mazhar admitted of a security risk to the museum, existing due to the sit-in of PAT women. However, he said, “It is the decision of the government whether to keep the museum open or not on such occasions. There was no immediate danger to the museum. It is always the duty of the police to provide security to the museum. We have had enough security guards.”
Centuries-old artefacts were stolen from the museum of the Punjab Assembly on March 4, 2016, during mass protests against the execution of former Punjab Governor Salman Taseer’s killer Mumtaz Qadri.
Protests were staged at Mall Road in Lahore against the hanging of Mumtaz Qadri on February 29. A mob holding placards and batons had entered the assembly building, detained the staff and looted valuable artefacts from the museum.
In an interview with Pakistan Today, security in-charge of the museum captain (retd) Khalid Khawar said that he feared an attack from protestors on Wednesday, especially after the incident of protests against Mumtaz Qadri’s hanging.
However, he said that he had no authority to shut the museum on such a tough occasion. He admitted that the museum security guards lacked the strength to cope with such a huge number of angry protestors.
“That is right that the security guards at the museum do not have required strength to restrain protestors from committing the crime if they go violent. Thank God, no such incident happened,” he said.
About 14 PAT workers including women activists were killed and about 100 others were injured on June 17, 2014, during a clash with Lahore police after several area residents complained about the barriers placed outside PAT chief Tahir ul Qadri’s house in Model Town.
Since then, Tahir ul Qadri held various protest rallies in different parts of the country.
Addressing the gathering on Wednesday, he said “We have decided to end our protest in line with the court’s order, but our struggle for justice will continue.
We have only two demands: the release of Baqir Najfi Commission report and constitution of the neutral bench under the supervision of Chief Justice of Lahore High Court. Our struggle is for Qisas of June 17. The daughters, sons, mothers and sisters of the martyrs are demanding justice”.
Qadri further announced to hold protest rallies after Eid.
Roads were closed from Lahore Museum to Istanbul Chowk for vehicular traffic on Wednesday and a heavy contingent of police was deployed for the security of the participants.
