(To be checked 1350 words. Photo available)
Farheen
Ujjan - 2k20/MMC/66
Subject: Newspaper and Magazine Production
Investigative
Report
Assigned
by: Sir Sohail Sangi
Department of Media and Communication Studies, University of Sindh
Why the building of the Central bank of India branch Shikarpur is not preserved as heritage?
''Old buildings are our history and should be preserved to inspire our younger generations one day.''
Shikarpur which was considered as
the Paris of Sindh is famous for its rich tradition, culture, history and
Central Bank of India Branch in Shikarpur is also one of them, which adds
beauty to the Shikarpur city and tops the list of most popular landmarks in
Shikarpur district.
In 1998, UNESCO had declared 1,203
buildings of Shikarpur as cultural heritage, but 250 buildings have been
destructed, said Prof Dr Anila Naeem of NED University, who has done an
extensive research on Shikarpur and its historical buildings and Shikarpur city
is the only city of Sindh province whose buildings have been made by civilian
personalities on the basis of the self-help.
The well-known personalities of
history have mentioned many times that the honour of the Shikarpuri traders had
more than Hyderabadi traders, before partition.
Shikarpur was a centre of trade in
Central Asia, whosoever used to come for trade they used to stay at Qilo kafilo
it was a fort for traders to stay but since they were being looted so the
traders of Shikarpur introduced Hundi to avoid problem of loot then slowly and
gradually, they establish a bank at Shikarpur said Badar ud Din Ujjan.
In addition, the traders of
Shikarpur used to earn money from across World and they used to invest their
wealth in Shikarpur.
The traders of Shikarpur used to
give the receipt to other persons or traders, who wanted to take cash from
other places, which receipt was recognized as cash, before partition, an
experience of “Hundi” and it is also reported that the Hundi system was
introduced by Hindu traders of Shikarpur.
The concept of banking system also
had started from Shikarpur in the form of Hundi, And the Shikarpuri people are
the pioneers of the Hundi which was acceptable in different parts of the world
and considered as good as gold, later on the banking system was introduced by
the local traders (Hindus) and contributed to establish the bank building in
the city which was the branch of the central bank of India.
Central Bank of India, a
government-owned bank, is one of the oldest and largest commercial banks in
India, it is located in Mumbai which is the financial capital of India and
capital city of state of Maharashtra.
It was established on 21 December
1911 by Sir Sorabji Pochkhanawala with Sir Pherozeshah Mehta as chairman.
Currently the Central bank of India
has branches in 38 states.
Before the partition of the
sub-continent there were approximately two branches of the central bank of
India in Pakistan, one was in Hyderabad and another was in Shikarpur.
The former branch office of the
Central bank of India was constructed in 1940 CE, before the partition of
sub-continent with the collaboration of Shikarpuri Hindu traders to facilitate
the traders of Shikarpur and it is still located in Shaikh Mohalla Shikarpur
Sindh.
It is believed that a person who
settled (muhajir) whose name could not discover, purchased this building in Rs
13000 in the year of 1950 through an auction.
After a couple of months, Akbar Ali
Shaikh bought this building from that settler in Rs 15000 in the year of 1950.
In 1959, after having nine years of
the ownership, Akbar Shaikh decided to rent out the ground floor of the
building to the Education Department on a monthly rent of Rs 60 with the view
of promoting education among girls in the area.
As there was no educational facility
for girls so they decided to establish a school for girls named Primary Girls
(Urdu and Sindhi) School and it was primary school.
When the flood had hit the province
of Sindh in 2010, the building owner had asked the deputy commissioner to
vacate the building, as he feared that the flood victims will ruin the
structure of the building by occupying it in the name of shelter.
In result, the department vacated
the building and shifted the school to some other place.
After the partition of
sub-continent, it lost it's worth & beauty, but it is still located in
Shaikh Mohalla Shikarpur.
Professor Karim Dad Ujjan said that
it is also a historical land mark in our city and this bank building was made
to facilitate the citizen and it was made with the collaboration of Hindu
traders of Shikarpur.
The heirs of Akbar Shaikh, including
his son Qadir and his family are still living in the building, there are ground
floor, first floor and the second floor in the building, in second floor the
family of Qadir Ali Shaikh lives while Jamshed Ali and Naveed Ali who are the
nephews of Qadir Ali lives in first floor and ground floor has been converted
into bethak.
The building has a reasonable
accommodation while expensive Sagwan wood was used in making of all the doors,
windows including fittings and main electricity board of the rooms.
The ground floor of the former bank
branch is consisting of one wide hall, three rooms, and one store room while an
open ground is also situated behind the building for ventilation but that
ground was purchased later before it was not the part of the bank and when
there was school so that ground was used as playground and the first floor has
two rooms and one wide hall and the second floor is also covered.
If we want to do maintenance of our
home on a great scale so at the first, we need to contact government said
Naveed Ahmed Shaikh (Owner).
Government had asked us to sell the
building to the government but we don't want to sell it so we refused but it is
decided whenever we want to sell it so firstly, we need to contact government
said Jamshed Ali Shaikh (owner) further he said that this building is about
3600 sq ft and currently its worth is 1 billion Pakistani rupees and still we
have no intension to sell it.
We have been living in this area
since before the partition of the sub-continent so this area was very much
crowded and full of hustle bustle on that time due to this bank after few years
when ground floor was rented for the school even it was crowded though but when
they shifted the school to other place so this area has become very much dreary
said an old neighbour.
First floor of the bank used to be a
living area for employs and ground floor was used to be a bank and there is
separate room in ground floor for keeping documents and records etc and the
entrance gate and two counters.
It has cc ceiling since that time
and the doors are made up of Sagwan, even the fitting and the electricity
boards are made up of Sagwan since that time and they haven’t replaced it.
But unfortunately, it has been
turned into residential building by CBI, the building has been a subject of
negligence by the Endowment Fund Trust, an institution responsible for the
preservation of the heritage of Sindh.
This is the main reason that why the
building of the Central bank of India branch Shikarpur is not preserved as
heritage because owners do not want to sell it.
The members of the civil society
have demanded from the government to take keen interest in Shikarpur’s heritage
and play their role to preserve them for enormous interests of the nation.
I
am talking about something that cannot be bought, it's our heritage, and it
needs to be preserved for community, government should take some steps to
protect it.
''A
concerted effort to preserve our heritage is a vital link to our cultural,
educational, aesthetic, inspirational and economic legacies, all of the things
that quite literally make us who we are''
#FarheenUjjan, # SarmadHussainMangi - 2k20/MMC/52 -
Practical work carried under supervision of Sir Sohail Sangi
