Hand over Malerkotla's Shahi Maqbara to Dept of Archaeology for upkeep: Residents

Mahesh Sharma

Malerkotla, July 8

Local residents, including successors of Malerkotla Nawabs, are seeking facelift of “Shahi Maqbara” here and inclusion of life histories of the erstwhile rulers in text books.

Nadim Anwar Khan, 8th-generation descendant of Nawab Sher Mohammad Khan, said it was an irony that people visit and pay obeisance at “Gurdwara Haa Da Naara” built at a prime place in city, but the Maqbara of the Nawab, who raised ‘the Naara’, has failed to draw attention of the successive state governments.

“Though the SAD government led by then Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal had sent some funds for its renovation, the repair work was interrupted due to alleged poor quality of material,” said Khan. He added that he would take up the issue with Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann.

Maqbara’s caretaker Khalifa Sabar Hussain said he, like his predecessors for the past 10 generations, had been looking after the compound with no financial assistance from any of the government or non-government organisations.

Besides urging the government to hand over the venue to the Department of Archaeology and Museums for renovation and upkeep, local residents demanded that an educational institute and a hospital should be established in memory of Nawab Sher Mohammad Khan.

Mohammad Rafiq, a social activist, said: “As our office is situated in front of the venue, visitors seek our help in getting its door open so that they can see whatever is present.”