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I do not think we hear much of Muhammed bin Qasim at all. We only hear of the tussle between Islam and Hinduism. The character and life of the man is left uncertain. The love of Qasim and Ladi actually speaks of the rebellion of the women hood in Sindh at that time. When warriors were ordered to assassinate all women folks on the brink of Dahir’s defeat, the warrior attached to Ladi, actually hesitated, and Ladi jumped to the ground from the camel she was riding. In this way she escaped her husband’s (actual brother) wrath, and certain death. When she was saved by the army folks attached to Qasim, it was her luck again. And then Qasim bought her from those who had captured her and certainly it seemed the prophesy had come true. The prophesy was that Ladi would marry a Ruler of Sind and will give birth to another. Not that we believe in any such prophesy as being the truth. It was the love radiation between the two characters.
We are told that Qasim was so much loved, that they put a life size statue of Qasim on the chowk of their main city. But we have forgotten one more thing. The product of the love of Qasim and Ladi, the son born to the living couple. They named him UMRO, and he was brought up in Sindh itself. When Qasim was removed, as the new Caliph did not approve of him (different versions of his death are there), the situation in Sindh had changed after all. Historians talk of a grave of Muhammed bin Qasim in Mosul, here he was tortured at the behest of the new Caliph. This is contrary to the story given in the Chach-nama, which is obviously the floated legend at that time.
In any case UMRO was reared up in Sindh, and must have become popular with the people, as he became eventually a Governor of Sindh. We have not come across more material on him, but we will search for same, as there is evidence here, that the DNA of Qasim is still in Sindh to this day. It reminds me of a 9000 year old skeleton they discovered in a mining cave in Scotland, and after research in the nearby village (the entire’s village DNA sample was taken), they found a match to the DNA. A living person descendant of a miner 9000 years old. What fun it would be to discover a descendant of Muhammed bin Qasim in Sindh?
There was another son of Muhammed bin Qasim and he was named simply as Qasim. He was Governor of Basra for 15 years, and also reached a certain kind of fame in his lifetime. So one leaves for Arabia, the other remains in Sindh. There must be more about them in some archives. Suffice that Qasim did not conquer Sindh in the battlefield alone, he conquered the hearts of Sindh and that is why Sindh never became a Hindu nation again. Three cheers for the icon of all times!
Twenty-three years past the independence of Pakistan, history writing has been rather disappointing. Official historians and textbook writers focus exclusively on and reiterate the Pakistan movement and there is no research on ancient India, the medieval period or the colonial era. In the absence of any alternative school of history, grandiose national narratives come across as dull and boring. According to official history, partition not only divided the subcontinent into two separate countries but it also partitioned history. Consequently, ancient India is not a part of our historiography. History writing in Pakistan is controlled by the bureaucrats and politicians who direct historians on how to write history which suits their interests and justifies their policies. It is in the interest of the state to use it to historicise the ideology of Pakistan. This task was faithfully accomplished by I.H. Qureshi in his two books Muslim Community in the Indian subcontinent and Ulema and Politics, in which he skillfully distorts events and adjusts them within the framework of the ideology of Pakistan. The next historian to follow him was S.M. Ikram, who traced the roots of two nations in medieval India. Hence officially, the history of Pakistan begins from the Arab conquest of Sindh. According to this point of view Sindh became Bab-ul-Islam or the gateway to Islam. It linked our history with the Umayyad and Abbasid caliphates, alienating it from ancient Indian history. This interpretation creates a Muslim consciousness that seeks its identity outside India. However, the truth of history is quite different. Sindh became separate and independent as soon as the Abbasid caliphate declined and local dynasties replaced Arab rule. Arabs who settled in Sindh assimilated in the local culture and identified themselves as Sindhis. Pakistan has rich cultural heritage and a glorious ancient past. The discovery of the Indus valley civilisation astonished and amazed the world of its achievements. Its important towns, Harappa and Mohenjodaro, located in Pakistan, boasted of the advanced and developed culture of this area unlike the Mesopotamian and Egyptian civilisations. Although there were no palaces here, the temples and tombs indicate that the common man was not exploited like in other civilisations across the world.
SOMANATHA — The Many Voices of a History: Romila Thapar; Penguin Books India (P) Ltd., 11, Community Centre, Panchsheel Enclave, New Delhi-110017. Rs. 375. "LISTEN TO the many voices of a history" before assessing the nature of a historical event is the main refrain of Romila Thapar's present book on Somanatha. The book makes a re-appraisal of the sources on the most challenging of historical events, i.e. the raid of Mahmud of Ghazni on Somanatha (Prabhas Pattana) in 1026 A.D. which has been repeatedly misrepresented and abused for political ends and raises serious questions of methodology in the existing histories and offers fresh readings of the narratives and fresh insights into the nature of the event through a highly rigorous and nuanced analysis of six categories of sources, most of which have been either ignored or marginalised by communal approaches, privileging one set of sources over the others as reliable and hegemonic. The work underlines the need for an uncompromising pursuit of the context in the analysis of the complexities of historical processes, which are beyond simplistic, mono-causal explanations and literal reading of sources of different periods, which have their own agenda of how an event is to be represented. Juxtaposing six categories of sources and situating them in their historical contexts i.e., contemporary to the raid down to the Mughal and the colonial, Thapar shows through a comparative analysis, how and why their perspectives are varied, diverse and even contradictory, not only from one another but even within a single category of sources. Her findings are most revealing and worth serious consideration. The dominance of the Turko-Persian narratives and chronicles of Al- Biruni (Kitab al-Hind) through Firdausi to Ferishta in the construction of the event, is attributed by Thapar not only to their large number, but also to the erroneous periodisation of Indian history into the Hindu, Muslim and the British and the languages in which their major sources are available, i.e. Sanskrit, Persian and English. Diverse and often ambiguous, their most significant strategy of representation is the politicisation of the event, creating a deep divide in the identities of the Hindu and the Muslim. Of greater significance is the identification, by a near contemporary source (Zain al- Akhbar), of the idol (supposedly desecrated by Mahmud) with a pre-Islamic Arabic female deity, Su- Manat of the Semitic pantheon, which was believed to have been secreted away to Kathiawar for safety from Islamic iconoclasm. Continuing contradiction as to whether the idol was that of a female goddess or an aniconic linga or an anthropomorphic Siva, further embellishments and fantasies about the age of the icon and its size and description, the curious claim that the temple was converted into a mosque and that there were repeated attacks (on the mosque?) by later Muslim rulers (e.g. Khaljis) show that the temple itself became part of the rhetoric of conquest as a symbol of political authority and legitimacy. Hence Thapar emphasises the need to situate the event in the larger context of Central Asian politics, the crises in the Caliphate leading to a shift in the representation of Mahmud from an iconoclast, looting and plundering for financing his Central Asian empire, to Mahmud glorified as the ideal Islamic ruler, who laid the foundation of Islamic rule in India, which is historically inaccurate. The receding Central Asian context turned the event into a confrontation between Hindus and Muslims projected as two monolithic communities. This version was adopted by all subsequent narratives like those of Barani, Isami and later Ferishta, hailing his rule as protector of Islam through the Sharia both from the Muslim heretics (Shia) and Hindu infidels. The Turko-Persian sources chose to ignore the perceptions of the non-orthodox Islamic communities in India and their multi-cultural and regional backgrounds, such as the Ismailis, Khojas, Bohras and Navayats, many of whom were converts. That the Somantha temple never ceased to function as a temple is established by another category of sources i.e., the Sanskrit and bilingual Sanskrit and Arabic inscriptions dating from the 11th to 15th Centuries A.D., which maintain a puzzling silence about the raid. On the contrary they attest to the continuing importance of Somanatha as a pilgrimage centre under royal patronage, recording the reconstruction of a smaller structure dilapidated due to ravages of time (and the sea) and its enlargement with fortifications under the Chaulukya Kumarapala (12th Century A.D.). Located near the port of Veraval, Somanatha was important for Gujarat's commerce even from the Mauryan times. In the early medieval period (6th-13th Centuries A.D.), its commercial potential was enhanced by the close relations among the Jains, Arabs and Turks apart from other sects in Gujarat, royal patronage to the building of Jain temples and mosques, the most significant being the mosque built in 1264 A.D. on land belonging to the Somanatha temple (recorded in a bilingual Sanskrit and Arabic inscription), with the approval of powerful elite groups of Somanatha, including the merchant community, who had close relations with a Persian ship owner (Noradina Piroj or Nur-ud-din Firuz from Hormuz). Thapar draws attention to the social and cultural dimensions of such interaction. The most pertinent question which Thapar raises is, "Should we not attempt to sift the actions and reactions according to social groups and specific situations," and not as, "a `Hindu' reaction to the event created by the `Muslim'?" A far more diverse picture emerges from the third major category of sources viz., the Jain biographies and chronicles from 11th to 15th Centuries A.D., which are more concerned with the Jain Sangha, the commercial significance of the region and negotiations with other traders including the Muslims, while only passing references are made to the Somanatha event. The Rajput chronicles and epics like the stories of Prithviraja Chauhan and Hammira, Thapar argues, are not to be read as epics of resistance by the Hindu to the Muslim conquests, but as derived from the genre of heroic literature of pre-Islamic times insisting on the values of a warrior aristocracy such as loyalty and honour, condemning deceit, irrespective of whether it was a Muslim or a Hindu. The use of terms such as Yavana, Turushka, Saka and Tajikas (Arabs) in Indian literature point to their geographical and ethnic associations similar to Al-Biruni's term al-Hind, for the inhabitants beyond the Indus. The religious connotation came later. Oral traditions recorded in Colonial ethnography provide popular perceptions of Mahmud and his raid. The popular ballads and Sufi literature convey different sentiments, which are an assertion of the magical power of piety over actual power. The stories revolve round places of pilgrimage (Muslim and Hindu) and saints, who performed miracles, like pirs, faqirs, wali, sadhu, gurus, siddhas, figures that cut across formal religious boundaries between the Muslim and the Hindu, creating new religious articulations, drawing from the grass root religious forms, using mixed languages, an area which has not been explored systematically. As Thapar points out, in all this the character of Mahmud has changed with his submission to and incorporation into an ethos of piety, magic and defence of the poor. Colonial interpretations, following the dominant Turko-Persian sources, constructed the memory of a trauma among the Hindus, depicting Muslims as uniformly tyrannical and oppressive, even inventing the false story of the sandalwood gates of Somanatha being carried away to Ghazni, when "the Proclamation of the gates" was issued in 1842 for their retrieval, instigating the Hindus to avenge the Muslims' insult of 800 years, the background to which was political i.e., British interests in Afghanistan. After the discussion in the House of Commons on the gates, the traumatic memory of the event became an established fact. "British interventions due to ideological and administrative needs and their misrepresentations of history wiped out the nuances of community relationships and particularities of each occasion and the varying identities of people involved." The hegemonic colonial version was nurtured by the communal politics of the 1920s, eroding the anti-colonial, inclusive mainstream nationalism of the late 19th Century and fostering communal ideologies and the religious nationalism of the 20th Century. The view of segregated monolithic communities emerged. The rebuilding of the Somanatha temple in 1951, wiping out all medieval vestiges, despite protests from archaeologists and historians, was carried out by K.M. Munshi as Central Minister, by claiming the consent of Sardar Patel and the sanction of the Government, which was vehemently denied by Jawaharlal Nehru. Munshi's views equating Aryan with Hindu culture and his understanding of Indian culture and nationalism, turned a regional or specific incident into a national one. The secular credentials of society and state were challenged by the communal politics of recent years, the two Ratha yatras (ending in the destruction of the Babri Masjid, 1992), all of which are part of a "Hindutva" campaign for mass mobilisation and for power, causing riots and leading to the genocide in Gujarat in 2002. In social memory this event has been consciously constructed as a trauma to the Hindus, "which has superscribed the history of an event." Its opposite, i.e., " structural amnesia" was selective and ignored the destruction of Hindu temples and mosques by Hindu rulers. As for the temple of Somanatha, a natural process of decline may have occurred, says Thapar, due to technical aspects like poor foundations and weight bearing devices, pointed out by Henry Cousens, as also a shift in the region of commercial potential after the 15th Century A.D. Thapar cautions against the use of the past to legitimise present concerns. She points out that the relation between religion and politics has complex dimensions and institutions like temples, monasteries, mosques, Khanqahs, churches, synagogues and gurudvaras have multiple roles. Their functions were not only religious but clearly also social and political. Thapar's re-look at the Somanatha event is a strong proof of the need for "more accurate and sensitive insights into the Indian past.
The Roman Gladiator: Adopted from the earlier Etruscans, perhaps by way of Campania, gladiatorial games (munera) originated in the rites of sacrifice due the spirits of the dead and the need to propitiate them with offerings of blood. They were introduced to Rome in 264 BC, when the sons of Junius Brutus honored their father by matching three pairs of gladiators. Traditionally, munera were the obligatory funerary offerings owed aristocratic men at their death, although the games did not have to be presented then. Elected aedile in 65 BC, Julius Caesar commemorated his father, who had died twenty years before, with a display of 320 pairs of gladiators in silvered armor (Pliny, XXXIII.53: Plutarch, V.9). Still mindful of Spartacus' rebellion, a nervous Senate limited the number of gladiators allowed in Rome (Suetonius, X.2). In 46 BC, after recent victories in Gaul and Egypt, Caesar again hosted elaborate games at the tomb of his daughter Julia, who had died in childbirth eight years earlier (together with stage plays and beast fights, they included the first appearance of a giraffe). The display was criticized, however, for its extravagance and the number slain, including several of Caesar's own soldiers, who protested that none of the money was being allotted to them (Dio, XLIII.24). During the Republic, munera had been privately financed by the family, whose duty it was to present them. Increasingly a display of aristocratic wealth and prestige, the ritual lost much of its religious significance and became more overtly political. To limit this power, Augustus assigned the games to the praetors and restricted the number of shows to two per year and sixty pairs (Dio, LIV.2.4). Eventually, the games were assumed by the emperors, themselves, as enactments of their own power. Indeed, by the end of the second century AD, Tertullian could criticize in De Spectaculis (XII) that "this class of public entertainment has passed from being a compliment to the dead to being a compliment to the living." After the slave revolt of Spartacus in 73 BC, the State assumed greater control of public games (ludi), and large numbers of gladiators were trained in imperial schools. (Interestingly, ludus means "game" and "school," because both required imitation and repetition.) Under the tutelage of a manager (lanista), a troupe (familia) of gladiators could be sold or hired out, and many were retained privately by politicians and wealthy citizens as bodyguards, especially in times of civil unrest. Most gladiators were prisoners of war, slaves bought for the purpose, or criminals sentenced to serve in the schools (damnati ad ludos). At a time when three of every five persons did not survive until their twentieth birthday, the odds of a professional gladiator being killed in any particular bout, at least during the first century AD, were perhaps one in ten. But for the criminal who was to be publicly executed (damnati ad mortem) or for Christian martyrs who refused to renounce their faith and worship the gods, there was no hope of survival in the arena. Seneca, who once arrived at the amphitheater in the middle of the day, between the wild-beast shows that occurred in the morning and the gladiatorial shows presented in the afternoon, protested this lunch-time slaughter of common criminals. "The men have no defensive armour. They are exposed to blows at all points, and no one ever strikes in vain....There is no helmet or shield to deflect the weapon. What is the need of defensive armour, or of skill? All these mean delaying death....The spectators demand that the slayer shall face the man who is to slay him in his turn; and they always reserve the latest conqueror for another butchering. The outcome of every fight is death, and the means are fire and sword. This sort of thing goes on while the arena is empty" (Epistle VII).
LAHORE, Pakistan, 28 June 2005 - Fifteen-year-old Ghulam Sarwar spent almost half of his young life racing camels far away from his home in Pakistan. His parents sent him to the United Arab Emirates seven years ago to work as a camel jockey. In exchange, the family received a recruitment fee, and Ghulam was paid a few dollars a month. “Sometimes I had enough to eat, and sometimes not. They would hit us when we made mistakes,” said Ghulam during a recent interview with UNICEF. “The job is very tiresome. We have to work from morning to night, tenting the camels, training them, cleaning their waste, and racing in the games. I was lonely. I missed my parents. I didn’t like it there at all, but I had no way out.” Ghulam said that there were more than 100 children – mainly from Sudan, Pakistan and Bangladesh – who worked alongside him as camel jockeys. “I have won seven races during the past 7 years. At the beginning, I was scared. As I grew older, I become better, and no longer felt fear when riding the camels,” said Ghulam. Convention on the Rights of the Child: Camel racing is a popular sport in the United Arab Emirates, and using children as jockeys is equally common. But subjecting children to the danger posed by participating in the race, economically exploiting them and depriving them of an education are all in violation of the rights mandated by the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Almost all countries, including the United Arab Emirates, have ratified the Convention. As time passed, it seemed to Ghulam that he would never have a chance to go back home and return to school. But following an agreement between UNICEF and the United Arab Emirates, the government banned the use of children under 16, or weighing less than 45 kg, as camel jockeys. On 21 June, the first group of 22 children, including Ghulam, returned to their home country of Pakistan. At the Allama Iqbal International Airport in Lahore City, Pakistan, government officials and UNICEF representatives were on hand to meet the returning children. As an interim measure, the children were then placed in a child protection institute where food, clothing, and medical care are provided. Reclaiming a lost childhood:The resilience displayed by these children is impressive. “We have worked with all kinds of children in Pakistan, mostly street children and beggars. We have never seen children this clever, confident, and brave,” said Zubair Ahmad, Assistant Director of Pakistan’s Child Protection and Welfare Bureau. “However, there are signs of psychological trauma, and some of the children are definitely malnourished.” The next step will be to reunite the children with their families. This could turn out to be a very long and difficult process. “Some of the children left home many years ago,” says Mr. Ahmad. “They have forgotten who their parents are and where they lived. It may take DNA testing in some cases. “For those whose origins we can’t trace, we will provide education and vocational training, to help them be better prepared to return to society one day.” The government of the United Arab Emirates has now agreed to send an estimated 3,000 child camel jockeys back to their home countries. UNICEF and its partners will be there to repatriate the children, helping them reintegrate into their societies, and reclaim their lost childhood.
EVEN as concerns about Iran`s nuclear programme have led to tougher sanctions by the United States and the European Union, Pakistan seems determined to continue with the Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline. For this country there are two separate issues at hand. One is the question of Iran building nuclear weapons. As a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, Iran must not be enriching uranium to levels required for weapons and should remain under inspection. As such, one hopes Tehran is dec-laring the full scope of its nuclear activities to the International Atomic Energy Agency and is only, as it claims, using nuclear material for energy and other peaceful purposes. Also, from the perspective of geopolitical priorities, the presence of another nuclear-armed neighbour is not in Pakistan`s interests, regardless of the current nature of the relationship with Iran. At the same time, Pakistan`s energy emergency has now become a matter of both prosperity and security. The country needs to pursue any practical and affordable sources of energy it can acquire, especially those that can begin delivering sooner than others. Along with LNG imports, gas from Iran is one such option and execution could be completed in two years if started in earnest today. The Tapi pipeline is beset with challenges, not the least of which is the security situation in Afghanistan. Given Pakistan`s limited options, it is hard to argue that the Iran project should not be pursued, despite America`s discouragement and its contention that there are quicker ways that Pakistan could explore to resolve its energy problem. According to the Foreign Office, the pipeline would not violate United Nations sanctions. And regulations are still being finalised to implement the latest US sanctions which will make it harder for foreign financial institutions that transact with certain Iranian banks to conduct business in America. If sanctions are indeed applied, an exception should be granted for the pipeline on the grounds that Pakistan`s gas and power needs pose urgent economic, political and security risks. Nor should Coalition Support Funds or funding from international lending agencies be held back as a form of pressure. Iran can be asked for assurances that proceeds from the pipeline will in no way contribute to the development of nuclear weapons. Meanwhile, Pakistan will still have to do the tough work of improving efficiency in power and gas delivery, creating a sustainable pricing structure, developing indigenous resources and taking other steps to set its own house in order. The Iran-Pakistan pipeline should be pursued but it will not be a silver bullet.
When the State of Israel was declared, David Ben-Gurion, Israel’s first Prime Minister, expressed his views on the necessity of creating intelligence agencies to operate on behalf of the nascent state. On June 7, 1948, he held his first meeting on this matter with intelligence officials. On December 13, 1949, following detailed staff work, Ben-Gurion appointed foreign ministry special operations’ adviser and former Jewish Agency state department official, Reuben Shiloah, to establish and head the ‘Institute for Collating and Co-ordinating Intelligence Operations.’ This date is considered the date the Institute for Intelligence and Special Operations was established. On March 2, 1951, as a result of the experience gained in running State intelligence agencies, particularly in overseas’ operations, Ben-Gurion ordered Reuben Shiloah to set up the ‘Directorate,’ within the Institute for Coordination, to take all overseas intelligence operations under its wing. The ‘Directorate’ was the initial incarnation of the main collection unit in the Institute for Intelligence and Special Operation
The truth is stranger than fiction. As a born again Muslim in the sufi tradition, Imran Khan is a deeply religious and superstitious type even if his antics as a notorious playboy are sometimes in conflict with that reality. This means he is susceptible to all sorts of manipulation and suggestion. For years now, his spiritual advisors have been telling him what to do and what not to do in order to become the Prime Minister of Pakistan. Bushra Manika, better known as Pinki Pirni, is the latest of these advisors. She was married to a civil servant Khawar Fareed Manika who had a bit of reputation when it came to corruption but he and his wife became devotees to the Sufi Saint Baba Farid Ganj Baksh. A couple of years ago, she is rumored to have tried to hitch up Imran Khan with her sister but that did not work out. Reham Khan, the dignified former wife of Khan who was married for precisely one year, swears by the fact that her marriage was sabotaged by Pinki Pirni. The dogged insistence by Imran Khan that he should both marry and divorce Reham on 31 October seems to lend credence to this. The story then goes, and it remains unchallenged by the Manikas, is that Pinki Pirni is said to have had a dream where the most holy personage in Islam told her that for Imran Khan to be Prime Minister, she must marry him and if she does, both Pakistan and Islam will truly prosper. Pinki Pirni then narrated this to her husband who agreed to give her a divorce for the sake of the cause of Islam in Pakistan.
Imran Khan attacked both the mainstream parties and advised his friend Musharraf to do the same. That is one advice that has doomed Musharraf. Realism demands that you don’t go headlong against forces that are bigger than you — for the time being. Musharraf however learned the opposite lesson in foreign policy: be realistic and don't buck the world. Imran Khan ill-advised Musharraf and was offended by his foreign policy pragmatism It is amazing how Pakistan seems to be indifferent to the phenomenon of Imran Khan. The man was not only the country’s greatest sportsman and popular icon, he remains also a great human being. He is still the most remarkable social worker in a field of philanthropy that even Abdus Sattar Edhi has not ventured into: treatment of cancer for the poor. Why has he not attained the stature he deserves? Why is he not allowed to rule the country he wants to rule? Writing in Jang (September 30, 2004) Haroonur Rashid stated that Imran Khan was a great man but a bad politician mostly because he was let down by his advisers. His party was not a real party but a party of his admirers. Imran Khan was close to Haroonur Rashid the columnist and many times dropped him home after meetings. Imran was a great man — a man of decision and resolution. He was great when it came to his cancer hospital. He was great when he went to Chechnya and went around as the Chechens were fighting their war of martyrdom. But he was ill-advised by his partymen who forced him to actually say nothing about the American invasion of Afghanistan after 9/11/. Imran’s decision to start a movement against President Musharraf from Hazara and Swat was a good decision.
ISLAMABAD: US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Friday told Pakistan that the country needed to understand that anti-Americanism and conspiracy theories will not end its problems. “Pakistan should understand that anti-Americanism and conspiracy theories will not make the problem disappear,” Clinton told a news conference following talks with Pakistan’s military and civilian leaders. Pakistan was left humiliated and angry after an American raid killed Osama bin Laden two hours’ from the capital on May 2. Clinton said there was no evidence that Pakistani government leaders knew where Osama bin Laden was hiding, following talks in Islamabad a month after he was killed. She said that Pakistani officials had said that “somebody, somewhere” was providing support for Osama bin Laden in Pakistan before he was killed by US forces this month. “This was an especially important visit because we have reached a turning point. Osama bin Laden is dead but al Qaeda and his syndicate of terror remain a serious threat to us both,” Clinton said. “There is a momentum toward political reconciliation in Afghanistan but the insurgency continues to operate from safe havens here in Pakistan,” she added, saying she believed that Pakistan and the United States had the same goals. “America cannot and should not solve Pakistan’s problems. That’s up to Pakistan,” she said
BUT THE MEMO SAYS
KARACHI: When former Attorney General Makhdoom Ali Khan resigned from Gen Musharraf’s cabinet in the wake of the Supreme Court’s reinstatement in July 2007 of ‘suspended’ Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry, the Americans were not exactly regretful at Mr Khan’s departure, according to a ‘confidential’ US diplomatic cable accessed by Dawn through WikiLeaks. However, their reasons for being happy to see the back of him had nothing to do with the disastrous handling of the CJ issue by the Musharraf government’s legal team. In a cable dated August 6, 2007, then US Ambassador Anne W. Patterson wrote that despite her reservations over Mr Khan’s “controversial” replacement, “We will not be sorry to see Khan go, as he blocked further negotiations on the bilateral investment treaty over concerns about investor-state arbitration and other issues.” Ms Patterson had been expressing her views on the resignation of Mr Khan and the appointment of Malik Qayyum as the new attorney general by Gen Musharraf. “Both the incoming and outgoing attorneys general can be accused of bungling the case of what admittedly was an ill-conceived idea to suspend the Chief Justice,” wrote the former envoy. But she was very specific about the reasons for American displeasure with Makhdoom Ali Khan. Dawn contacted Makhdoom Ali Khan to get the context to Ms Patterson’s remarks. Mr Khan told this scribe that prior to the visit of US President George Bush in 2006, the US officials had been pressing Pakistan to sign the bilateral investment treaty (BIT). “They were insisting that the signing of this treaty was a must,” says Mr Khan. The initial pressure, according to Mr. Khan, came from the presidency itself. “Pakistani officials, including myself, had been in negotiations with the US officials to discuss the treaty,” he said, adding that it was a “sensitive matter” and the relevant documents had to be “vetted in the light of international laws and conventions.” He explained that Pakistan is a signatory to the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID), a subsidiary of the World Bank, and has ratified its conventions. According to ICSID, if Pakistan signs an investment treaty and any of the treaty’s clauses is violated, the matter has to be referred for arbitration under the terms of the treaty. “We wanted to protect our side and I had told the Americans that we are ready to negotiate, but I refused to sign on the dotted line,” he said. According to him, there had been many clauses in the treaty which were against the interests of Pakistan
Chiniot, a city in Southern Punjab, is famous for its wealthy traders and intricate woodwork. Chinioti tradesmen once expanded their businesses far and wide, but the fame of the city's woodwork surpasses all else.
The Umar Hayat Mahal is a symbol of this exemplary craftsmanship.
I incidentally stumbled upon this grand ‘mahal’ or palace, while searching for the remains of a 14th century fort in Rekhti Mohalla — an old locality of the city.
I could not find anything of the Sultan Muhammad Tughluq Fort, except for a wall on a piece of land which was encroached by mohalla residents.
As I was studying the wall, my attention was diverted towards a fascinating structure — the Umar Hayat Mahal — which stood tall, exuding glory, despite lying in a state of ruin.
Its construction began in 1923. The house was complete by 1930, with a cost of over 200,000 rupees.
An elegant five story structure with unique woodwork.
Woodwork was done by Rahim Baksh Pirjah and Elahi Baksh Pirjah.
It was mid-day during fall last year. The main gate of the Umar Hayat Mahal Library (as it’s now known) was closed, but the unique structure could be seen through the iron fence.
The novel elegance of the edifice inspired me to inspect further. I got in touch with Amir Latif, a local historian, who also runs a web portal on Chiniot.
According to him, Umar Hayat — the owner of the haveli — was a member of the Vohra Sheikh clan, and had settled in Calcutta where he successfully developed a large business, and created a fortune for himself.
He dealt in hides and ship breaking, with innumerable investments in various other ventures.
The designs on the doors and windows display master craftsmanship.
District Gazetteer of Jhang called the monument 'a kind of local wonder' in 1930.
Umar Hayat Mahal, a five story edifice, hints at the riches of its successful former owner. According to local versions of history, Umar Hayat had married against the will of his family and had to face a social boycott. This ostracism pushed him to leave his hometown and settle in Calcutta.
At the time, Calcutta was a major trade hub of the Indian subcontinent, where a large number of Chinioti Sheikhs had settled down in the early decades of the 20th century.
By the time his son Gulzar was born in 1920, Umar Hayat had already established himself as a distinguished businessman. But the pull he felt towards his birthplace never faltered.
A bedroom on the second floor, seriously damaged from many places.
A door with stained glass work.
Umar Hayat's wife and son are buried in the courtyard.
Therefore wealth, combined with his love for Chiniot, and pride, made him return — he decided to build a house that was incomparable in beauty and grandeur.
He commissioned over the house's construction to his confidant, Syed Hassan Shah, who hired leading artisans of the time to build and embellish the haveli with elaborate designs carved in wood, marble and glass.
Two of these craftsmen were Rahim Baksh Pirjah and Elahi Baksh Pirjah, whose skill and mastery of woodcraft were acclaimed and celebrated from the darbars of Indian rulers to the Buckingham Palace.
Other skilled workers included mistri Ahmad Din who completed the brick work, Niaz Ahmad Jalandri, a celebrated artist, worked on stucco, and Jan Muhammad completed the frescoes.
The construction of the house began in 1923, and it was a challenge for artisans to build a haveli that could captivate its beholders.
Thus after seven years of continuous work and a cost of over Rs 200,000, the imposing Umar Hayat Mahal was finally ready in 1930.
Its dazzling exteriors astonished the people of Chiniot who had never known that a building of bricks and mortar could be crafted like an ornament.
A preserved doorway at the northwest side of the house.
Leading artisans were hired for its construction.
The detailed craftsmanship of the house took several years to complete.
The house became famous for its distinct features and so, in 1930, the writers of the District Gazetteer of Jhang ascribed it as a 'local wonder'.
The exquisite designs on its windows and doors, splendid jharokas, intricate stucco work on its ceiling, ornate frescoes and magnificent wood carving or munabat kari, made it the finest display of artistic splendour.
But as luck had it, the owner of the house did not live long enough to relish it. Sheikh Umar Hayat died in 1935, soon after the completion of the house. At the time, his son Gulzar was 15 years old.
When he turned 17, his mother decided that it was time to marry him. The marriage, no less than that of royalty, was planned for 1937. All the townsfolk were invited; the elders of Chiniot remember the lavish event to this day.
But the very next day of his marriage, tragedy struck the family once again. Gulzar was found dead in the bathroom. Toxic gases released by burning coals used for geysers were assumed to be the cause of death.
Gulzar was buried in the courtyard of his magnificent house. His mother could not bear the loss and died remembering her child. She was buried beside him. And so, this fantastic house was left as the only testimony to this once-powerful family.
After the tragic end of the Umar Hayats, the palace was considered to be a bad omen.
Umar Hayat Mahal lies in ruins.
Priceless architectural items were plundered and sold.
No relatives of Umar Hayat claimed it, although a servant family continued to live there for a couple of years.
In 1940, Anjuman-e-Islamia opened a religious school in it, which didn’t last long. In 1948, Sheikh Muhammad Amin, a philanthropist of Chiniot, established an orphanage in the house. Two years later, the orphanage was shifted to another building, and wilderness once again took over the Umar Hayat Mahal.
After the tragic end of Umar Hayat family, the palace was ravaged by marauders, looters and smugglers of antique furniture.
This architectural heritage of Chiniot was also ruined by local people.
Afterwards in 1960's, the structure was ravaged by marauders and wanderers who almost destroyed it. Later, the people of Chiniot began dismantling doors, windows, fresco plaques and even its marble slabs. These masterpieces created by legendary artists were sold in Peshawar, Islamabad, Lahore and Karachi.
Martin Enzner, a German researcher, has highlighted this pillage in his thesis “Carpenters of Chiniot, Pakistan”. He also wrote that antique wood trade in Punjab attracts many traders, westerners and smugglers.
Peshawar is an important hub of antique woodwork trading. Traders from the city regularly travel to Chiniot to buy historic wooden structures. Finally, most of the items end up in Western countries, and are oftentimes incorporated into new furniture.
The vandalism led to serious damage of Umar Hayat Mahal's two top floors. In 1970, the municipal committee ordered the demolition of the two higher storeys to save the structure from further damage or sudden collapse.
Doors, windows and frescoes were dismantled.
A stairway.
Damaged balcony of the third floor.
Upper floors in dilapidated condition.
However, it took another 19 years for a deputy commissioner of Jhang to take notice of the crumbling structure. Considering its historic and artistic worth, Muhammad Athar Tahir the then District Commissioner of Jhang, took the building under official custody in 1989.
Muhammad Amjad Saqib was the assistant commissioner in Chiniot. To save this monument, he involved the local business community and collected funds for the restoration of the edifice. And this way, the decaying structure was given a new life.
An open window.
Windows and *jharokas* of the Umar Hayat Mahal.
Jharoka with *munabat kari* — a masterpiece of the Pirjahs.
By the mid-1990s, its ground floor, walls, ceiling and woodwork of the upper floors, were repaired. In June 1990, the district and local authorities decided that the edifice could play a dynamic role for the people of Chiniot.
It was converted into a library, museum and cultural centre. Thousands of books from the municipal library and private collections were donated to it.
A museum was also established with some old and new artefacts, and an employ of the municipal committee, Mushtaq Ahmad, was appointed the caretaker. He also served as a guide, curator and historian.
The idea of converting the building into a library, local museum and cultural centre proved to be successful., albeit for a short while.
There were concerns about the restoration work done on the house by the district government. The process lacked appropriate techniques and completely altered the original look of the edifice.
Mushtaq Ahmad — the librarian, guide, curator, historian and caretaker of the two graves inside the palace.
Another stairway.
These pieces were taken off and sold in the Chinioti antique market.
A plaque outside the monument.
Nevertheless, this effort saved this architectural heritage from complete demolition. It also promoted local tourism, and generated people’s interest in reading and understanding local history and culture.
Unfortunately, the level of interest taken in the project did not last long. The district administration of Chiniot eventually refused to bear the expenditures of this valuable monument.
Books were dumped in the basement along with several other artefacts of Chiniot museum. The idea of further development and renovation was scraped.
