Daily Times

Sir: June 15, 2013 was a sad day. Quaid-e-Azam’s Residency in Ziarat was destroyed by militants; all the antique chairs, beds, rare furniture and historic photographs of Quaid-e-Azam were obliterated. On the same day, a female terrorist blew up a bus carrying some 15 girl students in Quetta. Interior Minster Chaudhry Nisar rushed to Ziarat and Quetta, and announced that the Residency would be rebuilt in three to four months time. The attack was condemned among others by the prime minister, the Senate and Ban Ki Moon, the UN secretary general. The Residency was built in 1892 and Quaid-e-Azam spent about two months and 10 days there (the last days of his life). The Residency was declared a national monument and heritage site. Even our hundred rupee note carries a replica image of the Residency. I have visited the Residency several times and was so enamoured that I built a small house near it in 1982. When I was leaving for Jeddah to assume charge as secretary general of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in 1985, I was strongly advised by Munawar Ahmed Mirza who was advocate general of Balochistan, and subsequently the Chief Justice of Balochistan High Court and later a judge in the Supreme Court of Pakistan, and other friends to dispose of the house as it could not be maintained properly. I did so with great reluctance.

I condemn the terrorist attacks and I look forward to the reconstruction of the Residency. The relics can be rebuilt with the help of available material in the National Archives. I am confident that the interior minister of Pakistan and the chief minister of Balochistan will attend to this task with complete devotion.

S SHARIFUDDIN PIRZADA

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