FOURTEEN DAYS OF MENTAL AND PHYSICAL TORTURE FOR US
THE BACK DROP GOT STARTED IN AMSTERDAM IN YEAR 1932
THREAT TO DEFILE THE SACRED LAND OF CHUGHTAI MUSEUM
PAKISTAN FOREVER!

It was the year 1932, and M.A. Rahman Chughtai was on a European tour. Elza Huiffner took him to the Rembrandt’s house in Amsterdam. The artist quickly realized what a proud nation does for its iconic characters. Yes, Rembrandt laid dead in a stable for days, before his body was discovered by the stench. But the Dutch rose to the challenge and restored the house of Rembrandt. M.A. Rahman Chughtai proudly declared to Elza Huiffner, that one day his works will be housed in a museum in Lahore, for the world to come and see the aesthetics of our nation. Forsaking all offers there, the artist came back to his nation, with the messages of Dr Allama Iqbal ringing in his ears. Yes, a separate homeland.

M.A. Rahman Chughtai had no vehicle of his to move on. Sometimes on foot, at times in a hired tonga (horse driven), he roamed and scouted the city for a sacred land to build his museum. The Government did not listen to his request for such an allotment, although his best friend Justice S A Rahman was the Settlement Commissioner himself. In the heat of summer I would see the artist with his brother seeking the best place for a museum. Colonel Sardar Hamid Hassan stepped forward with a proposal of a land which had been allotted to him in Garden Town. But Chughtai had no money for it. It was decided to pay for the land but in easy installments. An amazing gesture from a retired Colonel for the good of Art in this country. The deal was done and an agreement signed, and the foundations of a house was laid.I remember that day, when we rode a tonga to a land full of trees and crops, and the foundation was dug. My mother cooked a degh herself there, after a lamb was slaughtered and by traditions, the blood of the sacrificed lamb went into the foundations. All rejoiced that day to a grand future.

Lahore Improvement Trust or LDA was made for only one purpose, and that was to harass the citizens of Lahore. Corrupt and moronic officers tried their level best to stall the development of this land. But that is another story. Here it is suffice to say that on 17th January, 1975, about 12 families had occupied the house and about 200 squatters occupied the rest of the land. How we cleared it, is stuff of history? But we did, and a thousand people tried to stop us. I was threatened with my life many times. But we prevailed!

Who invented the latest charade? We can only guess. A preposterous claim made on the property. Col Hamid Hassan forged his allotment. All laws today tell us that a VALID TRANSACTION DONE becomes totally valid after lapse of 50 years, and such a case cannot even be reopened as defined by High Courts as well as Supreme Court. It used to be merely 18 years some time back. Records got burnt by vested interested people. That is common knowledge.

A sweetest American lady wrote to me from United States, that she is praying for our Sacred land from a sacred Catholic church. An American Professor wrote to the American Embassy to look into it. An Englishman from Cardiff University in UK wanted to do practical things to save us. Yes, there is concern but this is a concern of a minority who know the values of civilization. In a barbaric world civilizations come under the axes of corrupt politicians with greed embedded in their rotten brainless heads. Will we prevail? A number of foreigners are hoping that we will prevail. Our special thanks to Ms Rabia Ameen for praying for us! May Allah grant you all special places for aligning yourself with an excellent cause. We are the international center for peace. The State of Pakistan is not the Government of Pakistan. We are proud of our country and we shout Pakistan Forever all the time. Pakistan is not in our soul, Pakistan is our soul!