“The Cunningham Clock Tower” also called Ghanta Ghar

The Ghanta Ghar of Peshawar lost its grandeur due to the negligence of government.

“The Cunningham Clock Tower” in the centre of Peshawar City commonly known as Ghanta Ghar is one of the most ancient buildings of the city established under the reign of Queen Elizabeth of UK. Back in 1900, the clock tower in all its glory was once known as the pride and national heritage of the country, however the great historic tower lost its grandeur because of the encroachment and mismanagement of the local administration.

Architectural masterpiece by Sir James Strachan, an architect and engineer by profession, Ghanta Ghar was a fascinating piece of work from this municipal engineer at the time when he notably also designed many buildings in British India, including the metropolitans of Peshawar and Karachi among others.

Currently, this historic tower is surrounded by a huge fish market which has turned the tower into a pile of dirt and heap of garbage and the provincial government neither does nor bother to take any action in order to save this national heritage from being destroyed.

The Clock Tower is situated in the most crowded vicinities of Peshawar City in the Bazar Kalan, meaning a Great Market. Presently, this bazaar has lost its splendour and therefore is of no interest for the visitors due to many highlighted problems which the successive governments have failed to address on time or in delays.

Besides, it is also important to mention here that due to its historic importance, the control of the building should actually rest with the K-P Directorate of Archaeology and Museums having the required expertise and experts to preserve such valuable sites. However, since years and decades, the Directorate has no authority over Ghanta Ghar at all.

According to the archaeological experts, the government should come forward to hand over this building to the Archaeological Department operating in the town. This is the only way to preserve any archaeological site, for the experts with proper skill and knowledge along with the instruments to restore the site.

While talking to Voice of KP on the Ganta Ghar, Dr. Alam Said, Assistant Professor of Archaeology at a college in New Zealand, said that the government is responsible for such “sorry state” of the historical building as they should pay attention towards renovating the historical site. He maintained the opinion persisting the fact that our history is associated with such historical towers and destroying its ancient beauty means that we are destroying our history through our own hands. Dr. Alam Said further added that such buildings speak for the past times the nation has gone through.

Undoubtedly, the most important inscription on Ghanta Ghar is the valour and bravery of the people of Peshawar in World War I. From this city, 200 men went to the Great War in 1914 till 1919, and from them, 10 lost their lives and beloved in the war.

Furthermore, Rehmat Ali 90, who has been living in Ghanta Ghar Bazar since his childhood told the Voice of KP that almost all his friends have died, and he is the only one left behind. It was due to his emotional attachment with the place that he did not feel alone, and when he does, he images the Ghanta Ghar as his friend since he has countlessly many memories associated with this historical tower. He mourned the fact that a few years ago, this clock used to tell time functioning perfectly, but since then, the clock has stopped forever and there is no one left to repair the clock of the tower. He lamented that due to the negligence of the government and the common masses, this tower has also lost its beauty and importance and very soon this tower will be vanished, crying, he added.

As a closing plea and argument, it is pleaded here that the government should play its role in the protection of such historical buildings which are associated with our history. Besides, its hold should be given to the Archaeological Department of KP, because municipal committees never had anything to do with the historical and archaeological buildings as per the law and rule of the country.

Nonetheless, solely the government cannot be blamed because as a common man, it is a responsibility of all the citizens of any part of the globe to keep clean and protect such historical buildings of the country telling the tales of their legacy.

Feminism – a word that distract the world

The belief in the concept of social, economic, and political equality of the sexes (biologically identified as male and female) is labelled as feminism. Although the idea largely originated in the West, manifested worldwide and is represented by various institutions committed to activity on behalf of women’s rights and interests, but less knowledgeable society representatives and social activists complicate sex orientation view with gender, constructed on the role of a male or female in society. Like other humankind, Pakistan is not exceptional and faces the spring of feminism, women liberation, and rights.

Feminist history can be divided into three waves that occur in different period of 19th and 20th century in America. It includes the struggle to achieve the right to vote, equality and end discrimination which were referred to as the Women Liberation Movement. The goal of feminism is to challenge the systemic inequalities women face on a daily basis. However, recent research has proved that feminism has been associated with strong, forceful, and angry women, and our society continues to punish such forceful women.

There are borrowed ideas about feminism from abroad, but Islam has already offered maximum rights to the women since the past 1400 years. Islam teaches that men and women are equal before God. It grants women divinely sanctioned inheritance, property, social and marriage rights, including the right to reject the terms of a proposal and to initiate divorce.

Allah said in Quran: “O mankind! We have created you male and female, and have made you nations and tribes that you may know one another”

The Holy Prophet Muhammad P.B.U.H said in his last sermon: “Observe your duty to Allah in respect to the women, and treat them well”.

Also, looking at Constitution of Pakistan 1973, Article 25 guarantees that “All citizens are equal under law and re-entitled to equal protection of law”, Article 25(2) further states that “there shall be no discrimination on the basis of sexes alone”. Hence ensures the equality of women in its various articles and uplift the women’s status and protection of their rights.

Although Islam and the 1973 Constitution of Pakistan allocates equal rights to males and females and treats them uniformly but, still the phenomenon of feminism is being negatively injected in our culture primarily to abuse our societal values and norms. This is the borrowed idea from the west which is not applicable in the east especially in Islamic Republic of Pakistan. The concept is acceptable in terms of fundamental rights of women but the way the concept features are preached and defended within society is against our culture, values, and religion.

There are thousands of people who believe in equal rights, still, find “feminism” a word and movement that does not align with their personal beliefs or values. Practically, they provide the identical privilege to females until they find it crossing the limit of ethical standards and principles showing dominance and superior attitude towards males. Hence, classify the feminism theory contradictory to their opinions and tenets. Like the west, in the east people comprehend that we have already achieved a peak of equality for men and women in professional fields through open merit to participate and grow to the level of excellence.

Back in 2018, Aurat March was held in many cities across Pakistan to coincide with Internal Women’s Day on 8 March, displaying unrespectable slogans like: freedom over fear, mera jism meri marzi, khana khud garam karo etc. These projections damaged the image of real honorable women and supposed as propaganda to create conflict and distract the mentality of females and provoke negativity towards opposite sex. Thus, the feminism notion was misinterpreted countrywide.

Addressing real feminism is to raise voice by women for attaining fundamental rights, for example: if some women are not getting their rights from parents, or badly treated by men, not getting their proposed share in properties, they can raise voice according to law. She is encouraged to take khula if she finds it difficult to stay with a spouse. The basic purpose of feminism is to inform women about their Islamic and constitutional rights which they can use for getting privileges.

It is the need of the time to stick with eastern values and create Islamic and constitutional rights awareness among society to minimize any future conflicted incidents and save any misguidance.