WHO SPINS THE NARRATION OF OUR BELOVED COUNTRY?
EVER HELL BENT ON PROMOTING HINDU, SIKH, NARRATIVES;
ANOTHER  BOOK ON LAHORE BY NEELUM CHAUDRI, IGNORANT,
OF NATIONAL ARTIST OF PAKISTAN, AND HIS CHUGHTAI MUSEUM.

It is noticeable for a long time. There was an elite  who fostered our country and its ideology. And there arose another group of elite, who continuously spoke of our country in perspective of geography only. It started with the role of MI 6 itself. The British left with their cronies behind, to muddle the Ideology of Pakistan. And to steal the Art treasures of Pakistan. This was told to me by Basil Gray, former Curator of British Museum, who inaugurated one of our shows in 1977, and was looking forward to curating a show of Chughtai Art in Teheran of the Shahbanou Foundation. I have written about it many times.

Abdur Rahman Chughtai died on 17th January, 1975, and we immediately began a world tour of promoting him. On 17th January, 1976, we held our first show. We have held more than 65 shows in the last fifty years. We helped hundreds of students and scholars to research on Chughtai Art. From many who did their PHDS on Chughtai Art, to even high school students writing on Chughtai Sahib. Endless list and signed affidavits with us. We started various publications on Lahore and Abdur Rahman Chughtai. First for  some years BEAUTY series. Later NATIONS IN ACTION series. We invited world class scholars from all over the world here to give lectures on Chughtai art. Later we started a blog which to date was seen in 204 countries, with total views of 696,727 from all over the world. For instance 77,975 views from USA and 79,306 views from even India. A few hundred views from even Israel and Cuba. And yet there are groups who totally ignore us.

So who is behind controlling our adverse narrations? Foreign lobbies with their paid agents here.

A number of so called morons struts the streets of Lahore, looking for any signs of Hindu temples and Hindu Havelis. Not understanding that decline of Muslims in Lahore started after the 1857 Mutiny. The walls of Lahore were brought down, the gates demolished, and the gallis widened so that no uprising could take place. Muslims were stressed out, a poverty class overnight.Muslim households could not even sustain the houses they lived in. We are not merely patriotic p[eople, we are patriotic to the Spirit of Islam. Dr Allama Iqbal wrote the RECONSTRUCTION lectures to guide us for future at all times. All we and the adverse group can think of is belittle our national icons, including Dr Allama Iqbal and Quaid e Azam. It is a fight between SOULS and SOULLESS people. Even Amrita Sher Gill honoured Dr Allama Iqbal by making a photograph of him in Paris. Romance is created of atheists who do not even believe in Allah, how can they believe in Pakistan? 

Abdur Rahman Chughtai, the legend who introduced the word Chughtai Art for a beautiful girl in Urdu vocabulary, as reflected in many films of that time, when the hero calls his beloved as  Chughtai art.  The artist who put Lahore on the art map of the  world again. An artist who designed insignias for Pakistan, and an art which western scholars called him MODERN MASTER OF ISLAMIC CIVILIZATION. A true native of Lahore from the last many generations, and spineless authors are afraid of even giving his name, for retribution from Masters. A spotless character, who Prime Minister Liaquat Ali Khan, designated as the NATIONAL ARTIST OF PAKISTAN.

CHUGHTAI MUSEUM faced the wrath of various governments in Pakistan, at both Federal and provincial level. Not for anything we have done, but our motivations of welfare of not only Pakistan, but its Ideology. When two penny junkies speak against our country, it boils us down. Stop it! Love Pakistan, or leave Pakistan. We do not need lunatics like you here, who cut the branch on which they stand. Pakistan is the Islamic Republic, the first step towards a better world.

P.S.

Poet Neelum Chaudri, please learn more about Abdur Rahman Chughtai and Chughtai Museum. It is not a world of ignorance.

THE SPIRITUAL GODDESS OF MUGHAL KINGDOM JAHAN ARA
DAUGHTER OF AN EMPEROR LIFE DEDICATED TO COMMONERS
MOTHER BURIED IN TAJ MAHAL, SHE BURIED IN SINGLE GRAVE

Books can be written on Jahan Ara and books have been written, but she herself wrote books and also wrote verses. No Diwan has come out so far, but her takhallus was BEGUM SAHIBA and verses have been recovered from various sources. Some of her books are found here and there, mostly on Muslim Saints of our region. Chughtai Museum is proud to possess one of her books, written probably by Dara Shikoh himself and the final copy, her presentation to her father Emperor Shah Jahan in Jamia Masjid, Delhi. All this is recorded on the manuscript itself.

The calligrapher is AINEE. No Ainee is known, but we do know that due to her love for brother Dara Shikoh, she used to call him Ain, or in more personal terms as Ainee. The reference to Dara Shikoh in the book is written simply and she in her own hands has corrected the attributes, which shows that Dara did not regard his name in a royal way and she corrected it.

The Manuscript of Munis Arwah is only one of three 17th century manuscripts known to exist. As the book was written in 1049 AH 1640 AD, the two others found are different. An Autograph copy is known to exist in Lucknow but of a later date. There is a beautiful Ms in Azamgarh dated 1068 AH. But ours is the earliest Manuscript known and is dated 1051 AH, although the presentation part to Emperor Shah Jahan is later, both in Ajmer as well as in Jamia Masjid Delhi. Ours stands as the rarest and very very beautiful and elegantly written.

A lot is said about Jahan Ara and we will write more but where we introduce a rare manuscript of hers, we also reproduce the verses she wrote on the death of her father:

“Oh thou Sun of mine that hast hidden thyself from my eyes,
Will there ever be a morning to this night of separation.
Thou monarch of the world and qibla of existence,
Open thine eye of mercy and behold our condition.
I cry in sorrow and it availeth me nothing,
I burn like the candle in anguish and there is smoke in my head.”

Jahan Ara is the epitome of our women hood and to this days fathers love to name their daughters after the spiritual goddess of Mughal kingdom.

THE 167TH DEATH ANNIVERSARY OF SALAH MIMAR CHAUGHATA – 
THE CREATIVE LEGACY IN LAHORE OF M.A. RAHMAN CHUGHTAI

The ancestral background is amazing in its perspective. Two architects of Herat, namely Yusuf Mimar and Isa Mimar, sought guidance under Mimar Sinan of Turkey. Historians speak of their journey to Hindustan with Emperor Zaheer ud din Baber. Infatuated with Lahore, they sought their residence here and moved to other areas of the region. However Ahmad was born in Lahore and the affix Lahori was attached to his name forever. Our archives are full of facts about this creative family. A whole almarih of manuscripts and documents on them.

This is pay homage on the 167th death anniversary of Mian Salah Mimar Chaughata, who was born in Lahore and died here on 11th May, 1858. He was reputed to have attained the age of 120 years plus. Many Sikh buildings as well as of later Mughal period are attributed to him. References are there. Khalsa Darbar Records also tells us the obvious. But his two sons Mian Raheem Baksh and Natha (Mian Elahi Baksh) were also amazing in their own rights. Mian Raheem Baksh also an able architect, carries as a record certificates of many English administrators and engineers. Mian Raheem Baksh was father of Mian Kareem Baksh, again a hardworking Mimar, as also the father of Abdur Rahman Chughtai, Mussawar e Mashriq, National artist of Pakistan, and Modern Master of Twentieh century Islamic Civilization.

Fathers and sons leaving a legacy of creativity. A house in Chabuk Sawaran where only one portion is left, and the land still there, with a blue plaque on it, courtesy of a Lahori organization, and sensitive architect, Ms Fauzia Quraishi. Where we find so many unconcerned persons, there is pride in the fact that sensitive people still exist and surely keep the flag flying of creative endeavours anywhere. Lahore may not remember in its official organizations, but  certainly people keep things alive. 

Ever since the day I got my hands on the miniature of my great great grandfather, I fell in love with him. Imagine in those difficult days, could he imagine a great great grandson, loving him, with the image in front of him. BABA SALAH I LOVE YOU! And as long as I live your memory will remain fresh in my heart.  

We write about the family all the time. This is a day to remember their contributions to culture of Lahore.

FASCINATION OF THE WEST WITH ALIENS;
YET NO ACCOUNT OF ISLAMIC CONCEPTION.
PAKISTAN FOREVER ENDORSED BY ALIENS.

“And We have not sent you, [O Muhammad], except as a mercy to the worlds.” – 21:107

At times dates are important. This date is important for both the world as well as Pakistan. On 8th July, 1947, is the day that Sir Cyril Radcliffe arrived in India to draw the boundary lines for the Partition of India and Pakistan. And on that same day two alien crafts crashed in the world famous Roswell incident, although one craft was recovered much later. It was surmised that both crashed together. The craft was recovered along with bodies of the aliens. Some say that some of the aliens were alive and died later.It came in the newspaper and then the news was suppressed for reasons unknown. Then bogus stories were made of that incident, although to this day people believe otherwise. Funny that the hoax itself was named Mughal. Roswell incident does not go away.

In the Quran it is clearly written that Allah has placed life on various parts of the cosmos. Allah says that Allah has created humankind as a most superior being, for Allah has given humans the capacity to choose between right and wrong. This favour was not given to others.  

For us Quran is the beacon light. As you know a group of “jinn” declared their eiman after listening to a recital of the Quran from the Rasool, and it is recorded in the pages of the Quran itself. The whole story appears in 72:1-15. Replace jinn with alien and it actually implies that aliens live among humans, and are unable to return to their home world because space is too dangerous for interstellar travel (so this might mean they crash landed on earth with no way back). These jinn say that they have believers and disbelievers in their community, just like humans. They even mention a “foolish one” who misled their people about God, while the Quran makes perfect sense to them. So their “foolish one” must have been a false prophet or equivalent.

The jinn/alien account might not imply an alien crash. It might be a long-distance communication. The surah opens with an instruction to the Rasool to announce to human beings the news that the jinn have “heard” the Quran. It is not implying that they met the Prophet, but rather that Allah has revealed this information to him, and he has been asked to pass on the message. 

This makes more sense when taken into account another section of the Quran that mentions, quite clearly, that humans will only ever have a limited capacity for interstellar travel. The jinn/aliens too say, in this Quranic account, that they tried to go into “the heaven” (singular) but were stopped. A thought this meant they were prevented from leaving earth, but it more likely means they were prevented from travelling too far beyond their home planet.

More than seventy years, and the West is not ready to offer the secrets. President Donald Trump promised revelation but could not do so at all. Fear of repercussions. Jacques Vallee in a speech as well as in his books clearly say that the lack of revelation is not only due to security reasons but the religious complexities that the revelation will create in our minds. That these beings come from other dimensions or FROM THE FUTURE. Or is it as simple as that, the aliens clear the Islamic conception, and the West could not commit suicide by talking and endorsing Islam in any way. And the whistleblowers are there more to confuse the issue with use of AI, and intent of most losing direction.

It is disclosed that even the Vatican has documents about UFOs, hidden ones, but the surprising thing is that they are in Arabic and have Seal of Muslim rulers on them. Check yourself! Not being revealed because of danger to religion. We can guess dangerous to other religions, not Islamic conception of DEEN, which recognizes Alien life, as ascertained by the Quran itself.

And among His signs is the creative design of the heavens and the earth, and the

living creatures which He has dispersed throughout them. And He is Able to

gather them together when He wills. [Here is an allusion to the existence of

life in other celestial bodies, and to man meeting with the ‘aliens’ someday. 42:29

Indeed, before God, bows in submission all that is in the heavens and all that is on

earth, from all moving creatures to the angels, for none are arrogant. 16:49

A STUDY OF LETTERS OF LEONARDO DA VINCI BIZARRE REVELATIONS,
CONTACTS WITH TURKISH SULTANS AND OFFER OF HELP IN PROJECTS.

Lisa Jardine, the late scholar from the University of London, writes:
“In a series of letters written around 1484 and preserved in one of his many notebooks, Leonardo reports to someone he calls Devatdar Kait-Bai, on the findings of a lengthy scientific mission conducted along the politically contested Turkish coast. (Was Leonardo there in Turkey?)
But Sultan Qaitbay was in fact the cultivated and culturally ambitious Mamluk Sultan at this date.”
It is understood that East and West were on the road to cross fertilization of aesthetics.

The Renaissance art between East and West is being thoroughly documented and exposes the bigotry of some scholars, for some such exchanges put their arrogance to shame. One such brilliant artist was Gentile Bellini, who worked at the Sultan’s court itself. But the most amazing is exchange of letters between Turkish Sultan Bayezid and Leonardo da Vinci in 1502. The reply to Leonardo da Vinci is kept in the Topkapi museum in Turkey. It has been published too, and we reproduce same. A bridge is being proposed by Leonardo to bridge the Bay in Turkey. Modern scholars have worked on the design of the bridge and found it utterly feasible. In fact, the same design was actually used elsewhere, and worked well. It is strange that this did not work out at that time, otherwise it would have been another wonder of the world. The Sultan was apprehensive of the engineering, and did not think much of this “Kafir” as stated in the letter. But Leonardo had assured him that it would work. And it would have. History did not accept that.

But the influence of Islamic art prevailed on the West. For a discussion read our blog on the same subject, as:
http://blog.chughtaimuseum.com/?p=10247

POST SCRIPT ON THE LEONARDO’S BRIDGE:​

A bridge from Istanbul to Galata

It was a letter asking for employment. In which Leonardo also claims to know how to build windmills and pumps to extract water from ships. Then he talks about the bridge over the Golden Horn.

“I, your servant, have heard of your intention to build a bridge from Istanbul to Galata. And that you have not yet built it because it is impossible to find one who can build it. I, your servant, know how to do it. One would raise it to the height of a building so that no one can cross it because it is too high. I will do it so that a ship can pass under it even with the sails raised. I would make a drawbridge so that when one wants, one can pass to the Anatolian coast. May God make you believe these words, and consider that this servant of yours will always be at your service”.

Up to now, we always though that The bridge for the Sultan that he designed was too far ahead of its times to work on those openings. Due to the limitations of the building materials. It resembles the Calatrava bridge in Venice. And, even more, it resembles (in a small way) an existing bridge in China, in Zhaozhou. Built between 589 and 618 with a single arch of 37 meters and with a rise of 7 meter. Or several other Chinese bridges built during the Song Dynasty.

UMRO BIN MUHAMMED SON OF QASIM AND LADI
A FORGOTTEN AND LOST GOVERNOR OF SIND
THE LEGACY OF MUHAMMED BIN QASIM

I do not think we hear much of Muhammed bin Qasim at all. We only hear of the tussle between Islam and Hinduism. The character and life of the man is left uncertain. The love of Qasim and Ladi actually speaks of the rebellion of the women hood in Sindh at that time. When warriors were ordered to assassinate all women folks on the brink of Dahir’s defeat, the warrior attached to Ladi, actually hesitated, and Ladi jumped to the ground from the camel she was riding. In this way she escaped her husband’s (actual brother) wrath, and certain death. When she was saved by the army folks attached to Qasim, it was her luck again. And then Qasim bought her from those who had captured her and certainly it seemed the prophesy had come true. The prophesy was that Ladi would marry a Ruler of Sind and will give birth to another. Not that we believe in any such prophesy as being the truth. It was the love radiation between the two characters.

We are told that Qasim was so much loved, that they put a life size statue of Qasim on the chowk of their main city. But we have forgotten one more thing. The product of the love of Qasim and Ladi, the son born to the living couple. They named him UMRO, and he was brought up in Sindh itself. When Qasim was removed, as the new Caliph did not approve of him (different versions of his death are there), the situation in Sindh had changed after all. Historians talk of a grave of Muhammed bin Qasim in Mosul, here he was tortured at the behest of the new Caliph. This is contrary to the story given in the Chach-nama, which is obviously the floated legend at that time.

In any case UMRO was reared up in Sindh, and must have become popular with the people, as he became eventually a Governor of Sindh. We have not come across more material on him, but we will search for same, as there is evidence here, that the DNA of Qasim is still in Sindh to this day. It reminds me of a 9000 year old skeleton they discovered in a mining cave in Scotland, and after research in the nearby village (the entire’s village DNA sample was taken), they found a match to the DNA. A living person descendant of a miner 9000 years old. What fun it would be to discover a descendant of Muhammed bin Qasim in Sindh?

There was another son of Muhammed bin Qasim and he was named simply as Qasim. He was Governor of Basra for 15 years, and also reached a certain kind of fame in his lifetime. So one leaves for Arabia, the other remains in Sindh. There must be more about them in some archives. Suffice that Qasim did not conquer Sindh in the battlefield alone, he conquered the hearts of Sindh and that is why Sindh never became a Hindu nation again. Three cheers for the icon of all times!

QASIM AND LADI
A ROMANCE OF SIND
All is fair in love and war

Everyone has heard about the story of the advent of Islam in this region. And everyone has their own view on it. Obviously for us Muslims, Muhammed bin Qasim is the hero, not because he was a Muslim, but he came in form of undoing wrongs committed here. The Muslim women who had requested to be rescued and how they were rescued by this young man, a mere 17 years old. Many ethnically bound here equate Dahir as their hero, for limited ethnic reasons. Here Qasim was the good guy, and it can be judged from his behavior here. No less that the people of SIND worshiped him as a hero and made a life size statue of him in the chowk of their major city. But here we are talking of a love affair.

The Queen of Sind was love smitten by the looks of Chach. Chach was father of Raja Dahir. Ladi was a product of a love affair. Astrologers had predicted that Raja Dahir’s sister LADI would marry a man, who would rule Sind with full might. A superstitious Raja Dahir ended the speculation by marrying his sister himself, to become that all powerful ruler. But that was not to be so.

Raja Dahir had given instructions for all the ladies of the Royal harem and wives of the courtiers to be beheaded immediately if defeat of the Hindu army was imminent. Warriors watched over these ladies and when the news came of their defeat, the slaughter of the Hindu ladies started by the Hindus themselves. Ladi threw herself from her camel onto those on the ground who were meant to behead her, and in this ruse, they were dazzled to the extent, that it gave time to Arabs to save Ladi from slaughter. The captors took her in their possession.

Muhammed bin Qasim found out about the capture of Ladi, and sought permission from the Caliph in purchasing her from her captors (laws governed behavior). When the permission came, he bought her and made her his wife. The prediction was coming true. Ladi had seen the softness in the looks of Qasim, and Qasim had seen the demure of this exceptional lady. It seems love had happened at first sight.

The Chach-nama gives us flashes of incidents here and there. It also give us a flash of a sister of Raja Dahir ‘Bai’ burning herself and all the other ladies in a fire ritual in a room. It is not clear if Ladi and Bai are two characters or same persons. The death of the lady Bai is mysterious.

We are also told about how Ladi confused the warriors outside the ramparts by mounting a camel and in black dress going for a ride. It was considered a deliberate tactic in favour of the Arabs. If Chach nama had survived in full, we would have had all the information required, but even in the annals of one of the greatest battles in the history of the region, it is intermersed with a love story. The love story of Qasim and Ladi. The end is not known, nor we hear of their children. But it is a ballad for folk singers for all times.

A LOST ARCHITECTURAL MASTERPIECE OF LAHORE;
THE MAUSOLEUM OF MIAN LUTUFULLAH KHAN, SON OF
PRIME MINISTER SAADULLAH KHAN; GOVERNOR LAHORE.

The obsession with Lahore has run through everybody, but contrary to the merits of solid scholarship, the present writers have no aptitude to search for the truth. A look at one source here or there, and they rush to write things, or do a video on the same. with scant knowledge of resources at the disposal of the researcher. The result research abounds with every kind of mistake. Quick research results in permanent disinformation.

There is at present a Baradari in Lahore, and you find various write ups as well as videos, announcing it as the Mausoleum of Mian Khan. The unfortunate part is that the vandalism of the Sikhs have destroyed the Sarcophagus, and misinformation from our accepted historian misleads us further. Accepting the verdict of Nuruddin Chisti leaves us nowhere the truth. Yes, it is the remnant of Mian Khan’s tomb, but which Mian Khan, there are three potentials for the same.

Mian Saadullah Khan, Prime Minister of Emperor Shah Jahan:

Mian Saadullah was a favourite of the Emperor, and he even picked up a fight with his beloved Prince Dara Shikoh on him. And yet we find no place where he got buried. Some talk of an unknown grave at the complex of Hazrat Nizamuddin Aulia, but there is no confirmation. Obviously his date of death is known. And that helps us in some ways. To be exact 17th April, 1656.

Mian Lutufuillah Khan, Governor Lahore, important Minister of Aurangzeb:

The most misleading thing is that the date of death given by Nuruddin Chisti does not match with his date of death. The official chronicles like Shahjahan nama as well as Maaseray Alamgeri speaks of him being the eldest son and eleven years old at the time of the death of his father (17th April, 1656) and eulogized by the Emperor, but the Maaseray tells us that he died far away from Lahore, from an appointment of Nazim of Aurangabad, he was transferred to Deputy Nazim of Berar and died on the way there. The exact date is not given but it was between August and November, 1702. Confirmed date of death 1702. All speak of the date of death 1671. One realizes how misleading this has become.

Mian Hafeezullah Khan, commander in Mughal army: 

In Insha Madho Ram, letters exchanged between Munshi Madho Ram of Mian Lutufullah Khan, the name of Hafeezullah Khan is mentioned many times. Letters from elder brother to younger brother exist too. More nature of advice to remain patient in adversity. But he was about five years old at time of death of his father, and would be 21 years old in 1671. Was he of enough higher rank to deserve a grand mausoleum of this nature. Of Course not, he was literally a nobody in the Mughal tiers. And certainly not the Governor of Lahore. 

A little research clarifies many things, and nothing is to be taken for granted in any research, till documentation proves otherwise. For a body to be carried to Lahore, from Berar thousands of miles away, required an important royal position. Only Mian Lutufullah Khan had it.

Seal of Mian Lutufullah Khan and various references, including portrait: 

Many manuscripts carry the seal of Mian Lutufullah Khan, and some carry his brief notes too. But a portrait classified his face all the more. We have included it in the portrayal of this documentation. 

The Mausoleum of Mian Lutufullah Khan:

The earliest description is given by Nuruddin Chisti and we have recorded all of it in our book on same. But the best dividend is picture. I am sure none of you have even an idea of the same. By the time I photographed it, some things were still intact. But greed won. No one cared to restore it. By and by more fell. One mosque (the other jawab of same gone) still remains and no one even talks of it being part of the structure. So enjoy our snapshots. The big panorama is in the book and I will not publish it on internet to be copied endlessly by empty researchers. You can always get a copy of our publication free of cost from us, only for love of Lahore. We are Lahoris and we spread truth. And one other thing. It is a mausoleum made by my architect ancestor Lutufullah Ahmad Muhandis and we love it.

Chabuk Sawaran and Haveli of Mian Khan, both in Lahore:

Wall to wall, that is how much we are attached to same. Two Lutufullahs both of Lahore, and got together in an architectural marvel of Lahore. Please remember the same, not as a baradari of 1671, but as a grand project of 1702. Study our book for more information. Well done! Memories can live too.

GREATEST BANE IS DESIRE TO REWRITE HISTORY WITH MODERN EYES;
LAHORE SUFFERS MOST AS DEARTH MUSLIM WRITERS INTROSPECTION.
NO AZAN ALLOWED IN LAHORE FOR DECADES, DESTRUCTION OF MOSQUES.

Times change. Certain civilizations clash at times, at other times get knit in cohesions. The story of Sikhs is like that. At times Sikhs clash with Muslims, and then get together in the garb of being Punjabi orientation. It is a consistent ups and downs. Our own family has been involved with Sikhs all the time. My great grandfather Mian Salah Mimar actually worked for Sikh Court in the early 19th century. Khalsa Darbar Records do include names like Darogha Imarat Qadir Baksh and Raheem Baksh Mimar. But my father M.A. Rahman Chughtai had a multitude of Sikh friends, which included people like Bhai Vir Singh, Puran Singh, Satsarthyi, Sumer Singh and others. It started earlier. 

Around 1920 M.A. Rahman Chughtai got typhoid fever and a stage came when all hope was being lost. It was suggested that he should go to Kashmeer for recovery. In Simla a Sikh Doctor used to come on horseback to treat him. Later on it was found that the Sikh Doctor was instructed by Bhai Vir Singh to treat Abdur Rahman Chughtai. In Simla a meeting of Sikh friends took place, which included Joginder Singh, Dr Thakur Singh, and Sunder Singh Majeetha in praise of the Art of M.A. Rahman Chughtai. There used to be a lot of visitors at home at the studio of M.A. Rahman Chughtai. Even after partition a lot of Sikhs used to frequent the place. The story writer Satyarti was one of them. Another was Khushwant Singh who came to visit Chughtai with his wife.  The artist Ishwar Singh was his very best friend. The Sikhs always considered M.A. Rahman Chughtai a Punjabi representative in a Bengal dominated art environment in India. 

So we carried no prejudice for others. But that does not mean we could erase the discomfort of the past happenings. All was not golden in the Sikh era in Lahore. The happenings are all part of our history. Mufti Ghulam Sarwar Lahori (Tarikh Punjab) says it is wide and clear that nearly 2000 Islamic monuments were destroyed here during the Sikh rule. Most of the mosques in Lahore were used as dumping grounds for various things. Stables for horses and cattle. Living place for others. For many decades no AZAN was allowed in Lahore and the British had to point it out to Sher Singh to allow same, as it was posing difficulty in integration of society. The antics of the Maharajah Ranjit Singh with Mai Moran is separate history. What happened to famous monuments like Mausoleum of Jahangir, Nur Jahan and Asif Khan is history. Looted marbles laid in the Golden Temple as a matter of record. Even graves of Nur Jahan as well as Jahangeer defiled in all ways. Written history as well as oral records the pathetic attitude to the body of Nur Jahan and the bones thrown outside for the wild dogs. In fact the notorious three Sikh Chieftains responsible for the destruction of the domes of the minarets of the Badashahi mosque, and in those times, it is recorded by foreign visitors like G. Forster that:

” The Siques….. they beseiged… they took the city of Lahore…committed violent outrages. The mosques that had been ever rebuilt or restored to use by the Mohammedans, were demolished with every mark of contempt and indignation; and the Afghans in chains, washed the foundations with the blood of hogs.” 

A map dated 1725 shows the cupolas of the Badashahi mosque intact. It was in the Sikh times that destruction took place.

The historian Ganda Singh knew all the details and was trying his best to present Sikhs in best light. The answer is not as simple as that. To try to hide the past is not the answer. It is best to face the past as past, and turn a new page in history. Worst things happen. If we rekindle the spirit of love and forgo the past, to carve a new future. Sikhs and Muslims are natural friends in many ways. Both are emotional people.  Love vindicates them. Both believe in their RAB, natural ideology. Part of Pakistan shares the language too. Yes, we can be real long term friends. We can share our love for each other. A lot of bad has happened between the two communities. Let  us not repeat them. Let us start anew. No need to hide the past. Carve a new future.