HYDERABAD: The debate over the upcoming golf course at Naya Qilla, Golconda Fort has now irked a number of NRI intellectuals, along with conservationists and academicians across the planet. A delegation of academics, historians, conservationists and anthropologists have sent a letter to members of city-based civil forums to express their displeasure over the issue.
A transcript of the letter, received by Expresso implies that the scholars have been “alarmed” by the construction work going on at the heritage site. Attacking the Hyderabad Golf Association (HGA) authorities for “the damage done to this important site,” the letter extends the blame to the Tourism Department (APTDC) and, by virtue of association, the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI).
The petitioners, in effect have urged the respective authorities to “cancel the lease agreement with the HGA at once, and additionally use the opportunity to give the Naya Qila area the attention it deserves for heritage management and development.” The letter points out that the Naya Qilla contains, within its walls two “very important mosques from the early Qutb Shahi period. The mosques of Mustafa Khan and Mullah Khiyali, both built during the reign of Ibrahim Qutb Shah (AD 1550-1580) are rare examples of architecture in the 16th century in Hyderabad that can be dated by inscription,” the letter reads.
The petitioners across the oceans have also expressed the fact that haphazard construction and increased traffic “without a plan for preserving and protecting them will lead to further damage.” The letter also mentions that damage has been done to the area around the graveyard at Mustafa Khan’s mosque, which, coupled with the fact that the area has significant possibilities of further archeological study makes the appeal a thinly veiled attack on the responsible authorities.
Rubbishing the Andhra Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation’s claims that the move to build the golf course would be beneficial for the tourism industry, the letter, penned by authoritative historians, such as Marika Sardar of the Department of Islamic Art at the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art (MOMA), Phillip B Wagoner, Professor of Art History and Archaeology at Wesleyan University, among numerous others claim that the move would only hurt tourism.
Stating that the much-awaited Heritage status for the Fort could not be achieved due to the “the ASI failing to secure the integrity of the site due to urban growth and unauthorised encroachment,” the letter notes that “allowing the golf course in the Naya Qila area (would provide) another reason for rejecting the application.” The letter, signed by Robert Simpkins of the Department of Anthropology at San Jose State University, Omar Khalidi of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology along with Deccan Historian from the Netherlands, Dr GC Kruijtzer concludes with a firmly worded request to “revoke the lease of the HGA, and to recognise the significance of the Naya Qila and creating a plan for its management and development.” The letter, received by SQ Masood of the People’s Union for Civic Action And Rights (PUCAAR) indicates, if not the action at the local level, but at least stirrings from concerned thinkers and individuals from around the world. The Fort watch continues.
