A number of officials who presided over this grotesque happenings have been asked to account for their misdeeds and have been temporarily taken off duties. But this is hardly appropriate penalty for what they have done

Insolent attack on the Lalbag fort

It was much appreciated when the High Court (HC) recently ordered the immediate stoppage of work on a car park within the compound of the Lalbag fort. The car park was about to be built and a section of the walls of the centuries old fort was demolished for the purpose.
But this relic from the 17th century Mughal era is among our proud heritage sites and the spontaneous reaction of outrage from a cross section of the citizenry that was noted immediately following the incident needs to be applauded as well as HC’s activism in line with people’s understandably hurt feelings. But it is no small matter. The Lalbag fort is one of the must see destinations for foreign tourists and our people in great number who had not visited it before come to see it at least once paying a charge. Thus, it also generates on regular basis substantial revenues including foreign currencies.
How the perpetrators of this crime could dare conceive of such an act is a big question. Clearly, the creation of a car park there involved satisfying the pecuniary interests of some officials who were ironically entrusted with the task of looking
after the Mughal era edifice. But their behaviour is revealing of the greed for making some fast bucks no matter that their move meant partial destruction of a four centuries old heritage site that all sensible countrymen have a stake in protecting. If these guys could have their way, then very probably they would not mind carrying their destruction spree into other areas of this site also to satisfy more of their cravings for money.
A number of officials who presided over this grotesque happenings have been asked to account for their misdeeds and have been temporarily taken off duties. But this is hardly appropriate penalty for what they have done. The least higher authorities could do was to right away dismiss them from services. Such a reaction would send tough signals to potential doers of such things in the future. But regrettably such a course was not chosen. But why?
As it is, heritage preservation has not been conspicuous among the claimed achievements of the incumbents in power notwithstanding that a relatively youthful person with suitable background was put in charge of the cultural affairs ministry. The statements of the minister also sounded inspirational initially. But as the saying goes the proof of the pudding is in the eating, people will be assured only when they come across truly dedicated activities meant to safeguard the heritage sites.

A number of officials who presided over this grotesque happenings have been asked to account for their misdeeds and have been temporarily taken off duties. But this is hardly appropriate penalty for what they have done

Insolent attack on the Lalbag fort

It was much appreciated when the High Court (HC) recently ordered the immediate stoppage of work on a car park within the compound of the Lalbag fort. The car park was about to be built and a section of the walls of the centuries old fort was demolished for the purpose. But this relic from the 17th century Mughal era is among our proud heritage sites and the spontaneous reaction of outrage from a cross section of the citizenry that was noted immediately following the incident needs to be applauded as well as HCs activism in line with peoples understandably hurt feelings. But it is no small matter. The Lalbag fort is one of the must see destinations for foreign tourists and our people in great number who had not visited it before come to see it at least once paying a charge. Thus, it also generates on regular basis substantial revenues including foreign currencies. How the perpetrators of this crime could dare conceive of such an act is a big question. Clearly, the creation of a car park there involved satisfying the pecuniary interests of some officials who were ironically entrusted with the task of looking after the Mughal era edifice. But their behaviour is revealing of the greed for making some fast bucks no matter that their move meant partial destruction of a four centuries old heritage site that all sensible countrymen have a stake in protecting. If these guys could have their way, then very probably they would not mind carrying their destruction spree into other areas of this site also to satisfy more of their cravings for money. A number of officials who presided over this grotesque happenings have been asked to account for their misdeeds and have been temporarily taken off duties. But this is hardly appropriate penalty for what they have done. The least higher authorities could do was to right away dismiss them from services. Such a reaction would send tough signals to potential doers of such things in the future. But regrettably such a course was not chosen. But why? As it is, heritage preservation has not been conspicuous among the claimed achievements of the incumbents in power notwithstanding that a relatively youthful person with suitable background was put in charge of the cultural affairs ministry. The statements of the minister also sounded inspirational initially. But as the saying goes the proof of the pudding is in the eating, people will be assured only when they come across truly dedicated activities meant to safeguard the heritage sites.