Peshawar´s History Becoming History
Peshawar, a city with a history spanning more than 2000 years, is gradually losing its historical sites due to negligence. Numerous heritage sites are now only part of historical record books because their actual existence has now faded away. This trend of negligence is still continuing and it seems no one is realizing the pitfalls of it. Like any historical city, Peshawar also had a boundary wall during the times of the Sikh and the British to prevent attacks from foreigners or bandits. 16 gates served the purpose of allowing access in and out of the city. These gates are the Kabuli Gate, Lahori Gate, Kohati Gate, Ganj Gate, Asamai Gate, Kachehri Gate, Hashtnagri, Yakatut, Sar Asia, Reti Gate, Sard Chah Gate, Bajauri Gate, Ramdas Gate, Dabgari Gate, New Rampura Gate, and Sharqai Gate. Most of these names are named after the direction they face, or the city the road leads to. The condition of Sar Asia and Sard Chah Gates is exceptionally serious because they are one of the last standing ones. Hundreds of Posters, Banners, and Advertisements pasted on the gate walls give a very depressing site. Apart from this, the dilapidated condition of the wall and fallen bricks speak for themselves that the Government is sleeping and the public is unaware of the importance of this heritage site. A structure of bricks is still there but the original wooden gate is gone; as if it wasn´t even there. Where the wooden gates have gone? No one knows. The gates are thronged by parked Rickshaws waiting for passengers or Tikka vendors waiting for hungry clients. After going through the gates, one feels as if leaving the hustle and bustle of modern life and entering a quiet and peaceful past. One reason for this experience could be that vehicles are banned from entering. Inside, there is a complex labyrinth of tight streets through which any person can easily get lost. There are some small shops just next to Sar Asia Gate. One of these is a book shop which is run by Jehangir Khan since twelve years. He says that from time to time, officials from government circles or non-government organizations come to take measurements and pictures of the gate but they have done nothing else apart from this. ´´Neither the Government, or anybody else has given any importance to this issue over the past twelve years. That is why you can see the sorry state this gate is in.´´ When asked about the role of the public that they were also responsible for tarnishing the beauty of the gates by pasting advertisements and posters, Jehangir Khan replied, ´´I myself stop them from doing this but I can´t stop everybody all the time.´´ Inside the gate, a private school is operating since two years as well. Mubashar Hussain from the school was asked about the reason why this gate still existed when fourteen out of the sixteen Gates are history he replied, ´´The streets inside are so narrow and small that vehicles can´t go through hence there was no need of demolishing the gate for expansion of the road.´´ Peshawar enjoys the status of being the Provincial Capital of the North West Frontier Province. But its elected and appointed leaders have always happened to be people from other parts of the province. Hence even they don´t realize the historical significance of such sites or the needs of preserving them. One of the most disturbing points is that the Provincial Government so far has outlined no plan of preserving these walls. An officer of NWFP´s Asar-e-Qadima (Department for preservation of Historical Sites), Muhammad Naeem Qazi admitted to the fact that this site was a very valuable heritage site and understood the need of preserving it. But even they had not thought about any plans for carrying out such a task. He said, ´´Along with the Government, it is also the responsibility of the general public to help preserve such heritage sites´´. It is an altogether different issue about who has more responsibility than the other for preserving such sites; Government or public. But one thing is certain that these gates are the joint cultural heritage of all concerned and therefore all should work together to preserve them. An old and retired police officer named Abdul Ghafar, who has spent his entire life in the old city said, ´´Nobody cares about these places. If they did, then the other fourteen gates would still be amongst us.´´ BBC Urdu - 
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