'Pluralism is on the retreat'.

Byline: Peerzada Salman

KARACHI -- Well thought-out presentations in the first session of a seminar titled 'The Future of Heritage' brought to light some thought-provoking points for conservationists on Friday morning at the Aga Khan University auditorium.

Shiraz Allibhai set the bar high for the speakers to come -who did not disappoint -by choosing to speak on the topic 'Culture and identity: memory and rupture' -the session's rubric was The Aga Khan Historic Cities Programme.

Emphasising the need for having a connection with the past, he raised the question, 'Who is writing history?' He mentioned the name of Peter Handke, the latest recipient of the Nobel Prize in literature, saying people call him a genocide apologist. 'Who are our writers?' he asked, arguing why we should look 600 years back to underline 'we were great'.

History is being wiped out and markers of pluralism are being destroyed, say experts at moot

Mr Allibhai said heritage sites piece the narratives of who we are, where we are going. History is being wiped out and markers of pluralism are being destroyed. 'Cultural heritage is a source of pride for many communities,' he remarked.

Architect Masood Khan gave a detailed account of the Aga Khan Trust for Culture's (AKTC) Historic Cities Programme in Pakistan. He started off by talking about the Baltit Fort on which work began in 1990. He called the structure and its setting 'important'. It led him to discuss the Gilgit-Baltistan project whose framework of development included heritage and development-enhancing tourism, mitigating impacts of externalities and bringing the heritage sites and monuments into the public domain.

Mr Khan then shifted his focus to Lahore, which was once known as the city of gardens. Within it is the Walled City that has a place of its own. In 2007 the AKTC in partnership with the Punjab government commenced working on a programme of rehabilitating the Walled City. Subsequently, after doing the hard work they were able to have the government come up with the Walled City of Lahore Act (2012).

Egyptian architectural historian Seif El Rashidi gave the most insightful presentation via video link from London.

Historic Cairo

With reference to the southern part of 'historic Cairo' he spoke on the subject 'Making historic cities work for their local communities'. He said it [the area he worked in] has a dense urban environment with hundreds of medieval monuments. Egypt has a long tradition of preserving...