KARACHI CHRONICLE: Mohenjo-daro must be protected, preserved

Last week, a three-day International Conference on the Mohenjo-daro Indus Valley Civilization was held at the archaeological site near Larkana. Many interesting papers were read proposing the use of new technology to save and advance research and excavations at the world's most famous and enigmatic archaeological wonder.
However, there is a shortage of funds to activate actual work. Ms Vibeke Jensen, Unesco's country director, feared dwindling funds alone could cause Mohenjo-daro to disintegrate. Sindh government has promised to funnel more money for research and preservation of the archaeological site, and may actually deliver on the promise, yet you cannot bank (excuse the pun) on it because there is general lack of interest, both official and public, in the fate of Mohenjo-daro. Few hearts will break if the site cannot be saved.
Mohenjo-daro is a heritage site but we are not proud of it. We ignore it perhaps because we do not identify with it. Sindh history we have been told begins with the conquest of Muhammad bin Qassim. In which school do teachers talk about the 4500-year old site? Which college or university organised field trips for students to see Mohenjo-daro? Regular articles, even fiction based on Mohenjo-daro, is a means of generating interest and pride in Mohenjo-daro. Pride in your heritage is as important as expertise and funds to save the site. Public pressure is vital. Of course, the conference was no place to talk about generating public support, but the sponsor of the conference was the Ministry for Culture, Tourism & Antiquities, Sindh. Surely it is the duty of this ministry to develop public interest and involvement in the ancient site. Then there is Sindh Tourism Development Corporation. Beyond publishing an excellent tourist guide, has it ever done practical work to take local people to the numerous ancient sites in Sindh.
Excuses are made for lack of public interest in the fate of Mohenjo-daro, the chief one being pressure from fanatics. This is a bogus argument. This is a bogus excuse. Arguably, pride in ancient heritage and pride in one's faith can exist side-by-side. In the early days of the Khomeini revolution, for example, there was an alleged plan to obliterate non-Muslim culture and ancient sites. It is the people who prevented the purportedly planned destruction of Presipolis, although they were staunch supporters of the Islamic revolution also. As many locals as foreign tourists visit Presipolis. The Iranians are said to be proud of their heritage. We are not of our own.
There are many private tourism organisers in Karachi, but they are entirely devoted to taking locals to Makkah and Madina for Hajj and Umra. There is none for taking Pakistanis to Mohenjo-daro or other numerous, interesting tourist sites dotting every district of Sindh. Less than one percent of the people of this province, and even fewer people from the other provinces, have visited Mohenjo-daro. There are regular flights and good roads to Larkana and Mohenjo-daro. There is also a decent hotel. So what is preventing the government and private organisers from encouraging public to visit the ancient site? But there isn't even a poster saying 'See Mohenjo-daro'.
Large groups of people, especially students, can visit the site on a shoe-string budget. Chartered planes and half-price bus fares can cut the cost of tourism. There is no need for posh hotels; large community halls are good enough to sleep and eat in, as we see at the mazar of Shah Abdul Latif during the Urs. Food need not be more than daal-roti. In India the people from the Gujarat State have such arrangements all over the country. Gujratis are well travelled and proud of their heritage. We can do this too.
Government funding of Mohenjo-daro project should not be left to the will of the chief minister or party leader. There should be annual budget allocation. Unfortunately, that won't happen. If there is hardly any money for education, for schools and colleges, do you imagine money being spent on a 'dead' place? That is what the name Mohenjo-daro means: Land of the Dead. However, it is not a graveyard. It is a monument to prehistoric urban planning, with straight, broad roads, well laid out town plan, civic amenities like gutter, toilet and baths. It was a place of international trade and commerce as proved by the clay seals found in Mohenjo-daro whose provenance could also be Afghanistan, Iran, and Oman. It is linked to other ancient civilisation where Mohenjo-daro artefacts, especially carnelian Indus style beads, were found in Turkey in Troy, Turkmenistan, Greece and Egypt.