The High Court on Monday sought response to a plea seeking protection and conservation of the archaeological site and remains at Burzhom in the outskirts of Srinagar.
After treating a “communication” by former IAS OfficerMuhammad ShafiPandit as a Public Interest Litigation, the bench of ChiefJustice Gita Mittal and Justice Abdul Rashid Dar issued notice to theGovernment of India through the Director General Archaeological Survey ofIndia, Ministry of Culture, and Jammu and Kashmir government through theDirector Archives and Archaeology & Museums. The court sought response to the plea byJuly 28.
While Tahir Majid Shamsi, Assistant Solicitor Generalaccepted notice for the Director General Archaeological Survey of India, SeniorAdditional Advocate General BA Dar accepted notice on behalf of the Director,Archives, Archaeology& Museums.
The court ordered that a copy of Pandit’s communicationshould be made available to both the counsels who, it said, may file the statusreport within four weeks.
In his letter, Pandit, who is also Chairman of Civil SocietyGroup of Concerned Citizens J&K, has said that the Burzhom site has beenprotected under the ArchaelogicalMonuments Sites and Remains Act, (AMSAR), and at the time of notification, 82kanals of land were transferred to the Archaeological Survey of India.
The letter revealed that the site was identified andexcavated by a Yale-Cambridge expedition in 1935 and subsequently by TNKhazanchi of the ASI in 1960. “These excavations revealed immense importance ofthe site and was therefore placed on the tentative list of World Heritage sitesby UNESCO in 2014,” he writes.
The UNESCO, theletter said, describes the site as “a unique comprehensive story teller of lifebetween 3000 BCE to 1000 BCE”.
“The site, as per theUNESCO listing, acted as a bridge between Central Asia and beyond and theGangetic plains and peninsular India,” the letter said.
“The sports agencies have been organizing premier leaguematches under the patronage of State and District Administration at the site incontravention of the Central Act and the rules guiding the protection ofarcheological sites,” the letter added.
Pandit apprised the court that he along with two avidactivists of heritage preservation—SaifuddinSoz and Saleem Beg—visited the siterecently saying it was absolutely disheartening to find that even the signagesat the site had been damaged.
The site interpretation sheds and passage had also beendamaged.
The letter said these developments were viewed, with seriousconcern, by the members of the Group of Concerned Citizens, a civil societygroup which raises its voice from time to time on important issues.
“The issue which needs immediate consideration is that thesite is now being utilised for playing cricket matches. This aspect concernsthe state government directly,” the letter reads.
While the letter pointed out there was the need to explorethe possibility of identifying suitable land around the area for setting up ofa sports field, it said the artefacts which have been taken by the ASIauthorities to Delhi for the purpose of a detailed study of age determinationand linkages should be brought back.
“This had become necessary in the absence of necessaryfacilities for study and storage at the site in Srinagar. It is thereforenecessary to pursue the project already conceived for development of the sitefrom archaeological point of view,” the letter said.
The former IAS officer also called for taking immediateremedial action by District Srinagar administration by providing necessarysupport to the ASI for fencing and for stopping misuse of the site.