Srinagar, Sep 30: Notwithstanding the claims of coalition government that best efforts would be put in place to restore gutted shrine of Dastgeer Sahib (RA) at Khanyaar, the work has started at a controversial note. Reasons: Remains of majestic walls which could have been conserved in the new structure have been demolished as the authorities failed to arrive at consensus on the safety standards till the façade was razed to ground by some people.
 
THE OBJECTIONS
 Around a fortnight back, soon after start of “restoration work” at the shrine gutted in a devastative fire earlier this year,  a controversy erupted when some  locals and the shrine Sajada Nisheen Syed Khalid Geelani raised objections over the safety of the “to be restored structure.”
 The Sajada Nisheen said he was not taken into confidence for the restoration work. “We had apprehensions that if old unsafe walls are retained in the new building there could be risk to the lives of people who throng the shrine especially at times of Urs when it remains jam packed,” Geelani said.

THE INTACH VIEW
 INTACT, a world renowned organization into heritage conservation said some of the left over walls of the two-storey building could be retained in the new structure.
 Authority on heritage conservation and INTACH Convenor, Muhammad Saleem Beg said a team of experts had certified that some of the walls could to be “safely retained to withstand load for several centuries to come.” However, before a consensus, the left over walls were razed to ground.  

THE CONFUSION
 The Sajada Nisheen clarified that he was not against conservation of left over building structure. “What we want is assurance from experts that new structure will be safe for devotees and should serve for times to come,” he said.
 On the issue of conservation of the remains of the revered structure, Geelani sounds like the INTACH people who aspired to conserve as much as possible of the old structure.  So what went wrong? Observers believe that the state government failed to rise to the occasion.
 
THE GOVT SLUMBER
 Observers said the state government could have taken up the matter with the concerned and arrived to some “logical conclusion where heritage and safety would be upheld alike.” A civil society member and prominent industrialist Syed Shakeel Qalander said:  “It is unfortunate that the controversy on preserving or demolishing the left over walls of Dastgeer Sahib(RA) Dargah continued within the government circles while devotees took decision in their hands and declared these walls unsafe.”
 “The government was duty bound to assure people at large and devotes in particular that the existing walls could sustain for another spell of life of atleast 500 years and in this context structural engineers could have been involved to ascertain strength of the existing walls,” Qalander added.
 “One can understand the desire of heritage lovers to preserve and conserve every last symbol of heritage constructions in Kashmir and it needs to be done. However in case Dargahs and Masjids, visited by thousands of devotees on daily basis, the safety of the structures should be given paramount importance,” he added.
 “There are no two opinions on the issue that this Dargah needs to be built on the old pattern however the modern material having added strength could be utilized to make this Dargah stronger.”

BOTTOMLINE
 With each passing day, a wall or two of the left over structure are being demolished. Amid chaos, possibility of conserving what could be conserved in the revered old structure is fading away fast while the government continues to be silent!

Lastupdate on : Sun, 30 Sep 2012 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Sun, 30 Sep 2012 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Mon, 1 Oct 2012 00:00:00 IST