In today's newspaper the most singular thing that stood out was a full page from the Archaeological Survey Of India, imparting information about the new act passed by the government, to preserve our priceless heritage.
The act focuses primarily on the boundaries and demarcation of the limits of the heritage sites, in order to avoid encroachment of same by the general populace, Further information on which can be very well found on the net and various news papers.
But then I ask you, will this act help? I have some serious doubts !! Just like the old adage says "Locks are only for Gentlemen"; this act only prohibits the monuments by specifying a limit of 100 meters, in all directions, called the prohibited area. Now about inside the monument?? While government is busy drafting policies and Acts, the heart of these heritage building and monuments is already bleeding, and will continue to do so...
We all have paid visit to the Qutub Minar, The Red Fort, The Bhool Bhulaiya at the Imambada Lucknow, or some other similar building, and what we have brought along in our memories other than the grandeur and majesty of these buildings is the foul smell of urine, bad experience from encroachment and harassment from the local shopkeepers (read Goons), and various anti social elements, who have already taken the custody of our history (not to mention continuous gherao by the beggars) .
We, are ourselves to blame for it, for how many times have you complained against the bad behaviour of Guides, mugging by so called artifact traders, and most importantly, against the tampering of the fabric of the building (sometimes the whole structure) ??
It is time now to act as responsible citizen, and stand against anything that defames our rich cultural heritage, which we have been unable to protect so far.
I leave above a picture taken of Bhool Bhulaiya at Lucknow, which is the only building of its kind in the world, made in the mid 1700s; and now every inch covered by scribbles of local Laila / Majnu, and those very own people, who want to leave a mark on the history.
Please stop doing it, there are better ways to be part of the history - preserve it!
i agree but govt. is also trying to create awareness for protection of our monuments thru T.V.our country's major problems are over population,illiteracy & corruption & steps taken so far to check these menaces appear to be inadequate. position of general law & order is also not appreciable.of course law will work as deterrent up to some extent.i personally appreciate Mayawati who is in process of creating a separate force to protect these monuments in U.P.i really appreciate your concern for this cause.
ReplyDelete@ r.n.arora : Thank you sir for your comment, and also for continuous encouragement
ReplyDeleteCould'nt agree more with you Captain. However until our education system does not include fundamentals like moral values, pride in our history, respect for rights of women and value of life we wont see any immediate effects to these acts and laws. What we need is a minimum entry fee to these places of heritage and the proceeds should be diverted to security infrastructure. The people who will pay are definitely interested in history and will go at lengths to preserve our heritage. 'Freedom' unfortunately is misconstrued in our country and taken for granted. It does not have to mean 'Free as in free beer'. Certain days can be arranged (perhaps every quarter) when it is free for all public where special security arrangements can be made. This is the only way we can protect these monuments in the short term. -- King
ReplyDeleteDear Sir...appreciate the concern. Yes, we need to think and act on fast track to put a hold on to the damages happening to our Archaeological/priceless monuments. Here too, I seek the supports of our younger generation to protect our valued heritage. The systems which made us to learn all about our valuable heritages should now teach us to protect these possessions too. We need to convey the message through our educational system through appropriate syllabus right from std-1 to std-12.
ReplyDeleteLet us spread the awareness to our younger generations and make them responsible to protect our valuable possessions - Classrooms are the best and first platform for spreading these spirits to one and all.
Even I prefer, the Archaeological department should direct/invite all schools and colleges in turn to conduct lectures on the historical importance to the visitors and also spread the message of safe guarding the holy heritages by various acts/good manners.
further to my comment dt. 02/05/2010 on this Blog ,i appreciate the initiatives taken by u.p.tourism deptt. to protect all the heritage monuments by creating awareness among the people.one such step is "heritage walk" at old lucknow.it is two hour morning walk with a competent guide who lets you know the minutest detail of buildings/monuments/events.click to see pics http://picasaweb.google.com/rnarora/HERITAGEWALK#
ReplyDeleteआपकी बात से सहमत हूँ
ReplyDeleteस्थानीय प्रबुद्ध लोगों को इस बारे में छोटे स्तर पर अभियान चलाने चाहिए , इससे स्थिति में तेजी से सुधर आयेगा
हाँ दोष हमारे सलेबस का भी है
it is true but these can be preserved by the action of government only and they have started so. These all monuments and historic buildings are sarrounded and encroached by poor people to meet their daily needs (food). For them their own life with empty stomach is more important than these buildings. So we have to provide them with other means to meet their daily needs and then we need to educate them also. And it should start from the root...our education system.
ReplyDeleteMany institutions limit access to their online information. Making this information available will be an asset to all.
ReplyDeletei found your blog via google and it is exactly about my research topic i want some more interesting posts here hope you will keep me up to date.
ReplyDeletetopics for a term paper
outline for a term paper
Academic Writing