Ruckus about Sindh Festival

A lot is being said about the Sindh Festival but probably not in the way Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, the brains behind the cultural event, would like it. The Sindh Festival, which kicked off yesterday, was celebrated at Mohenjodaro, a declared UNESCO world heritage site. It is an event intended to shine light on the rich culture and heritage of Sindh itself, the home base of the PPP. Ever since it was announced that the festival was to be launched at Mohenjodaro, social media went abuzz with the news, with users claiming, rather prematurely, that a stage would be built on top of the ancient ruins, further devastating the site. This led to a sudden peak in local and international attention with people wanting to know the how’s and what’s of the technical management for the event. This led to Bilawal issuing an official statement on how “extraordinary” and “foolproof” measures had been taken to ensure that absolutely no damage be caused to the ancient site. The director of the Sindh Archaeology Department, Qasim Ali Qasim, even showed the PPP patron-in-chief around the site and all the work done to guarantee that every effort was made to preserve the site from the scaffolding to the seating. The ruins were completely cordoned off from the stage and event area. The only reason the festival is taking place there is to highlight the conservation needs of the site. Such cultural events are celebrated at heritage sites around the world.

It is deeply appreciated that social media, commentators and archaeology ‘experts’ took the entire matter to heart and raised a ruckus over the ruins of Mohenjodaro but one must ask: where was this concern before the announcement to hold the festival there? Mohenjodaro’s ruins have been in complete decay, suffering from neglect and erosion. Extensive digging at the site in the past caused erosion to the ancient structures because of water logging and salinity. Digging was stopped after the intervention of archaeologists but nothing was done to preserve the ruins. It is quite typical here to make some noise when a subject is brought to attention but to not give a second thought to it beforehand or after.

Those employed to make the Sindh Festival a success consisted of a team of technically expert managers in arranging such events at heritage sites. They did know what they were doing. The whole point of the event was to showcase the beauty of our culture and its heritage. Given that goal, it would obviously not do to ruin the ruins.