There
are thirteen gates around the inner city of Lahore, and as I mentioned
previously in my article; all these gates have their own history and specific
lifestyles. There are thirteen different but complete worlds surrounded by a
wall in a universe named Lahore. Right after Masti Gate in clockwise order
there is Kashmiri Gate...It is so named because it faces the direction of
Kashmir and in the olden day’s caravans leaving for Kashmir left by this gate.
This gate is one of the seven gates of the Walled City that are still standing.
Join me for a walk through this glorious gate, but keep in mind that today will
not be a typically historical journey. I want you to comprehend the present
situation of this historical city by understanding its past, and through that,
maybe help create a better future. Towards that end, allow this humble
wordsmith to be your guide beyond the historical picture of the Walled City.
As
you enter the Kashmiri gate, on your very right is a school named Government
Islamia High School for girls, ChunaMandi. This school is the only source of
secondary education for the female population of the area, and is a blessing
for the locality. Sadly it looks more like a trash yard than a high school,
thanks to our local government. Don’t go far I have another thing to show you:
a fine model of our current ‘illegal architecture’ —- an eight story high plaza
right on the boundry wall of the old city, between Kashmiri Gate and
Sheranawala Gate, which can be seen all the way from Badami Bagh. This very
Gate has become mini Manhattan because of Asia’s biggest cloth market, Azam
Cloth Market, the pride of Pakistan. This mini-Manhattan has lots of high rise
plazas which are all illegal, but owned by some influencial people, so the law
can’t do them any harm. Here you have ‘survival of the fittest’. Rarra Telliyan
is the victimized area of this destructive construction. People are building
plazas just to earn money without thinking about the land laws and its effects
on the architectural heritage.
Another
beautiful thing about this gate is the amazing combination of the rich and poor
people living together. There are many small katriis (common dwelling places),
where people live a single room with their whole families. This is the kind of
place where even poverty cries on behalf of the people and alongside the
katriis runs the boundary of a huge plaza within which money runs like water. A
noisome mixture of poverty and callous wealth is destroying the beautiful
architectural heritage of the old city. Haveli Kabli Mal is a living example of
the ignorance of our authorities.
Kucha
Kudi Garanh holds the priveldge of containing the last standing historic
house but I am afraid that it too will soon be demolished. Chowk Chuna Mandi is
one of the oldest mandies (markets) of the Walled City, now in the centre of
Azam Cloth Market, and I am sad to report that it has become a junk yard,
around which people are comfortably eating or transacting business. Dirt,
garbage and trash, these are the things which can also be found along with
tasty food, lively people and architectural heritage, within the walled city.
It pains me to say that the future of the walled city is endangered. We claim
that we are preserving this heritage and raising funds from the world, but
there are no results. Whatever that actually gets done is only the done because
of selfishness and greed. The reason behind telling you all this and bringing
the truth in front of you, is to preserve our heritage and to wake our
authorities. If we let this happen, our future generations will never see our
rich culture. All we will be left with are some trash yards and
pseudo-skyscrapers. Please do not commercialize this world vestige of our past.
Preserve it as you promised to do...
