HERITAGE (THE LAST OF THE OLD)

By: Nasser Yousaf

THE LAST OF THE OLD

IT may sound odd from a civilian person's point of view to be too concerned, or in fact obsessed, with the state of a cantonment area in Pakistan, or for that matter in Peshawar. But the bazaar in Peshawar cantonment area popularly known as 'saddar bazaar,' is so inextricably linked to the perception of the common lot that a discussion on its prevalent state is always relevant.

Some important matters took me to my former hometown of Peshawar on the shortest day of 2019. My daylong itinerary included a visit to the saddar bazaar. Some friends had sent me images of how the road, running between the shops on either side, would look like after having been turned into a one-way.

It wasn't to be so as the plan appeared to have gone haywire that resultantly found one trapped in a great mess. With great difficulty, I managed to find my way to the near about of Capitol cinema, one of my desired locations where I wanted to polish my Peshawari chaplis.

While the Bajajuri shoeshine guys attended to the needful, I barged into the cinema premises which also houses Band Box, one of the oldest dry cleaning shops in Peshawar. A tall stoutly built man stood outside the shop who kept watching my movements quizzically as I looked around the thick walls of the old cinema house. I ended his state of suspense by asking him if it was true that the cinema house was being demolished. The gentleman replied in the affirmative while adding that it had probably been built in 1913. 'Perhaps the same year that the nearby Convent School was built,' he volunteered more valuable information.

One has some fond memories of Capitol cinema. One vividly recalls watching Romeo and Juliet a showing of which our school, Cantt Public, had arranged after the annual students council elections.

I also remember Albert Godin's (RIP), of Godin Pianos, words that he had seen Prithvi Kapoor in a lungi and white muslin kurta collecting funds in the foyer of the cinema for some noble cause.

Godin was one of the most ardent record keepers of Peshawar. One of his most fondly kept possessions was a booklet, or perhaps two, that contained complete details of the Christian cemeteries spread across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The maps of the gravesites showed in immaculate detail which British civil and military officer of the British era was buried where.

With the cinema, Band Box will also face the axe. But the most painful loss will be that of London Books, Peshawar's only surviving bookstore of any note. We all know that London Books is housed in one of the ground floor shops of the building that makes up the said cinema. Peshawarites are not known for holding on to their bookshops so the loss is not likely to be felt too deeply except in some isolated circles.

The demolition of the Gothic-style structure of Capitol cinema will be the culminating point in a series of disturbing events that has seen the effacement of the old with a calculated precision as far as Peshawar saddar bazaar is concerned. 'It will be replaced by shops selling glitzy clothes and stilettos,' laments Dr. A dil Zareef, a conservationist who is in profound love with the old, classical Peshawar.

Adieu, old Peshawar!

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NEWS OF SUBSTANCE

KP's Band Master

By: Nasser Yousaf

In our peculiar milieu, it is no startling news to be told that a chief minister had attended the assembly session only eleven out of a total of sixty times that the house was in session.

Similarly, it is no news worth telling that the chief minister under review had rarely, if ever, been seen or heard speaking in the house except on one odd occasion on a point of order. The gentleman in question might be taciturn which, with politicians outdoing each other in plain balderdash, is a virtue indeed in our own weird state of political affairs.

What in fact is a news worth sharing is that the chief minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Mahmood Khan in addition to his responsibility as the provincial chief executive was also looking after the affairs of eighteen other departments. Such less fortunate departments include planning and development as well as the all important department of education. But the misfortune underlying this situation could have been more comprehensible only if we knew what it meant to be serious-minded.

Mahmood Khan comes from one of those areas of Swat that were hard hit by a wave of violent uprising less than a decade ago. He was the minister for sports, culture, youth affairs etc in the PTI's last government that completed its tenure in 2018. His election or selection as the chief minister must undoubtedly have come as shock not only to the gentleman himself but also to his kith and kin and all those living in at least fifty different time zones who might at some stage have come into contact with him.

Apparently his performance in his former capacity was so impressive (sic) that the party, or its leader, decided to bestow on him the most challenging task of heading the provincial government.

There is substantial evidence that would belie any claim of the gentleman being possessed of even ordinary faculties of wisdom.

A video recently circulated on the social media showed Mahmood Khan inaugurating a project of sorts. At the end of the brief ceremony, the gentleman was seen raising his hands in supplication and beseeching the Almighty to grant him and his subjects the power to beat India ruthlessly. In fact he besought such Divine favours in the shape of an Urdu idiom (ya Allah hamey thaqat dey k hum India ka baja bajja dain) wherein he capriciously replaced band with harmonium before he was corrected by one of his many attendants by intoning the right word in his ear.

One is quite sure that Mahmood Khan is least aware of his multifarious duties and responsibilities especially the functions related to planning, development, finance and the challenging task of reforming the education sector. In the absence of any credit worthy proof of some qualities of intellect, it is quite possible that it were his good looks that endeared this gentleman to the powers that be.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is a godforsaken area which was hit by a sanguinary conflict at the turn of the millennium. The conflict is still far from over.

During a lull of sorts in the conflict, the boundaries of the province have been stretched to include within its administrative sphere of influence the former tribal agencies straddling the Durand Line with Afghanistan. This means increased responsibilities and pressure. The choice of Mahmood Khan as the chief minister at this crucial point in time is, therefore, all that bewildering, if not utterly outlandish.