Mughal-i-Azam II.

Byline: Asha'ar Rehman

MORE than four centuries later, the proposition of a marriage continues to invoke the most vicious opposition in Akbar the Great's fort in Lahore. The controversy this time surrounds the permission given to the holding of an event in the area of the old royal kitchen. Heads have started to roll.

The fort's protection and maintenance is the responsibility of the very active and much-hailed Walled City of Lahore Authority. On Wednesday, the WCLA gave marching orders to two officials 'for failing to monitor' the event. The allegation is that while permission had been granted for a get-together of the corporate, under this cover, the organisers had been guilty of holding a wedding function - specifically a mehndi night. This, we are told, was against rules that govern the fort, which is a Unesco-protected heritage site.

The event was held on Jan 10 and there was outrage as the footage of the night was aired by one channel after another, each one crying out that this was a crime against heritage. The sense of betrayal at the ostentatious treatment of selected royalty that the common man has to deal with was overpowering. The deluge drowned all the explanations that were offered, such as the one which tried to remind enraged Pakistanis how certain areas in and around the fort were allowed to be used for private events.

The WCLA had initially resorted to the law to act against the private party that had organised the event. But lately, the media has drawn its share of the blame from the head of the authority - who has lambasted the 'electronic media for creating panic through wrong reporting'. He was unhappy at how the media had first reported that the most precious Shish Mahal was the venue of the private party.

It would be interesting to find out just how frequently the premises have been rented by the modern-day elite out to match the grandeur of Akbar's durbar.

The walled city chief has bared it all in the wake of this latest controversy regarding the protection of our heritage. He says a ban on events such as corporate dinners could lead to the fort degenerating into a place where only wild grass grows and stray dogs thrive.

The WCLA restored the royal kitchen after a period of 50 years. And the question has been asked: what action was taken against those responsible for keeping this place deserted for 50 years?

The permission for responsibly holding private get-togethers is rooted in the more recent formula that...