Khadim’s Quetta

khAdim duRRani Quettawaal

Every year May the 18th is observed as the World Museum Day and surely today the museums from around the world are actively celebrating this day,  raising awareness and consciousness on the role of museums in their respective socities and the importance and the need for preserving our global heritage.

Unfortuntely, in Pakistan there are only a few well managed and maintained national museums, e.g., Lahore and Karachi. I am sure on this occasion they will have organised events that aptly serve the purpose of this day. However, the situation in Quetta is different where the ‘Quetta Museum’, on Wafa Road,  which is not only housed in a rundown rented property but remains closed since last year’s October 29 earthquake as reported by Jang online of today, May 18 2009 (below is the original news article in Urdu); precious and valuable items have been boxed and  cupboard locked up. Through the same news article we learn that about 103 years ago during the British Raj in 1906 the Quetta Museum was established by the name of McMohan Museum. For the past many years more than 16 thousand of its valuable items have been lying around in Karachi while many more items were transferred to India after 1935’s devastated earthquake and were never returned, claims the same news report and adding further the museum was restored [and refurbished] once again in 1972.

As far as I remember in the 1970s Quetta Museum was housed in the north of Quetta in the Cantonment area where later on when Pakistan Television extended its broadcasts to Quetta region, its Quetta Station was allowed to establish its [temporary] base there.

In 1997 I had the chance to visit Quetta Museum on Wafa Road – a road situated between Toghi Road and Alamdar Road, almost opposite Quaid Abad Police Station (Thaana), at the back of Quaid Abad Primary School and in close proximity to Isma’eel Masjid (mosque). At the time Dr. Fazal Dad Kakar was its director who held a Ph. D from France,  in archaeology. I am not sure whether he is still its director or not but he was very passionate and enthusiastic about having a sort of museum in Quetta that besides regional history and heritage reflected tradional architecture of the region; I remember even in those days Mr. Kakar was struggling to get an appropriate place for the museum as the present premises was too small and not suitable for running a museum. In those days due to shortage of space a few antique rifles and guns as well as very old manuscript of the Holy Qur’aan were at display.

Museums are very important as they are the mirrors to our past and without them we will not only lose various items of  historical importance but also lose the opportunity to educate our children about how their ancesters once lived and, under the present socio-economic climate, an important source of revenue gets lost as well.

Last year I had the opportunity to visit our neighbouring country Iran and I was amazed to observe the extent to which Iranian people were involved in preserving their historical past. During a month’s stay we visited about 11 main cities and a few small towns. Museums were the main places of attraction both for foreigners and Iranians as well as a very good source of local and national revenue. What amzed me the most was the number of Iranians visiting those places.

Quetta’s population is over two million. Sadly it doesn’t have enough public parks and places for recreational activities. It is therefore really very important that we have a good and functioning museum for Quetta where in addition to historical items and artifacts/artefacts, contemporary pieces of fine art, traditional handicraft and regional artisanal tools and gadgets can be put on exhibition. Or, where at least once a month or whenever the occasion arises, traditional ethnic food and dresses can be introduced to the visitors of the Museum. This will gradually increase the number of visitors to the museum and create source of income not only for the museum but also for various participating artists/artisans -  eventually the art will flourish, flourishing the communties as well.

In the end we must also acknowledge the efforts of our media, in particular the Jang group of newspapers, for reminding the concerned authorities what they should do and have done when it comes to commemorating and celebrating certain national/international days, and, for giving their readers plenty of information about those events. Had I not read the above piece of news item I would not have written this post!