Saving Kahoo Jo Daro

Read this impassioned appeal in the press – it also alerted me to the situation that haunts this ancient relic.

The city is built beside an old Buddhist metropolis of 4th century. There are remnants of the Stupa in ancient city known as Kahoo Jo Daro.

The Stupa on Moen Jo Daro , Kahoo Jo Daro and some other un-excavated Stupas can be classified as the lower Indus basin sites. They are different in art & material. Mud & terracotta is widely used instead of stone.

The aims of the present approach is not only to denounce the lack of interest in these site locations, but to expose the deliberate destruction they are suffering from. One of the most obvious example is the site of Kahoo-jo-Darro (near Mirpur Khas) which is actually daily destroyed by contractors taking material from the site in order to sell it to building constructors. The situation is disastrous. Because of the extent of damage, it is clear that no action was ever taken in order to prevent this situation from developing. This deliberate destruction and the carelessness of the authority in charge, is contrary to the UN Declaration and Recommendation of Rights to enjoy Culture , and according to prevailing moral codes as well. Day by day, humanity loses inconsiderable data about its history.

Civilizations are known to be the signs of identification for any nation. The alive nations always protect their civilizations considering the sign of their ancient culture and national heritage. Kahoo- Jo- Daro is one of the ancient civilizations of Sindh situated at Mirpurkhas. But unfortunately this civilization has been ignored. I recently happened to visit this site but highly shocked to see the site is totally occupied by some occupants. Last time when I visited the site I saw some people digging the place and loading the soil in tractor trolleys. It is matter of shame for all of us. We term over self as the most ancient and civilized nations of the world but on the other hand we totally failed to conserve our old heritage.

I appeal to all the intellectuals, journalists, writers, representatives of civil society organizations and especially to the residents of MIRPURKHAS to please come forward and save the remaining portion of our old civilization. In case of failure our next generation will consider us as ignorant and oblivious.

Krishna Lal Mehergarh Hyderabad

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