The Rising Kashmir editorial suggests that the State authorities should not destroy pristine symbols of Kashmir architecture
Save Heritage
Heritage enthusiasts have started online campaigns to save old Zero Bridge and Zaina Kadal in Srinagar city. Government wants to pull them down and erect new ones with modern concrete technology. Ironically there are various other projects involving whole or part of heritage structures that the government seeks to replace with new, more mechanical buildings.
Irony of such ill-advised policy is that the Chief Minister Omar Abdullah recently laid foundation of “new Zaina Kadal” despite the fact that new Zaina Kadal already exists that was constructed as an alternative to old Zaina Kadal built by the fifteenth century king Zainulabdin Budshah. Apart from being a tourist state, Jammu and Kashmir is a heritage region that has nurtured more than four civilizations over past five thousand years. Any ruling regime keen to develop the state should not forget this civilizational past. In many European states local authorities have set building codes that are commensurate with the cultural and civilization flavour. We have already suffered mishandling of great symbols of European, Central Asian and Afghan architecture in Kashmir. This is despite the fact that the government has a separate culture department that functions under tourism ministry. The government’s move to work out development plans for cities and towns of Jammu and Kashmir cannot be disputed but the plan should consider the socio-culture dimension of old structures that are being razed in the name of development. Let there be a heritage study commission headed by any veteran government servant with sufficient knowledge about the subject.
The bottom line for a new heritage policy should be the reconstruction not construction of the old sites such as Zero Bridge or Zaina Kadal. Civil society should also play its role in highlighting the need to adopt reconstruction of our pristine glory. The government is also planning an artificial lake in Jammu’s Tawi River, which is sacred to Jammu’s Hindu population. Progress and development should be the key concern of the government but erecting a concrete jungle should not be the motive. The chief minister or his cabinet colleagues should remain vigilant against wrong advices which are often fed at the behest of vested interests. When a five hundred year old structure is removed and new one built in its place the moneyed contractor will have his pound of flesh but onus of virtually vandalizing the heritage would lie upon the ruling regime.
If Omar government is really concerned about the development of Srinagar city, it should concentrate on Jhelum sites. The river has scores of heritage sites on either of its banks in Srinagar city. Let there be a heritage enclave beginning from Khanqa Mouallah in Fateh Kadal. Let the government devise a reconstruction plan for restoring all the old sites including Budshah Tomb and Zainalank, the Wullar Island that was once an epitome of secularism.