History Tarnished

Defacement of historic monuments is not a new problem but even after so many years the government is not doing enough to stop it effectively.

Wherever you go in the city, you will find monument walls full of declarations of love, the pain of separation or even simply records of someone having visited the place on such and such date. Be it Amber or Nahargarh, Hawa Mahal or Albert Hall, you will either come across walls that have been scribbled or spat on, or you will see broken mirrors and crumbling masonry. You may or may not find the old beautifully and artistically painted walls here, but you will definitely find a love message for the world to see.

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But the worst aspect of the city's heritage being defaced in this wanton way is the official apathy. After Hrs visits some of the city's most famous monuments to see it first-hand and wonders why the powers that be are unable to put an end to it when the law provides for the strictest of penalties on anyone caught in this dastardly act?

"Under Section 17 of The Rajasthan Monuments, Archeological Sites and Antiquities Act 1961, a person can be fined up to Rs1 lakh and can be imprisoned for three years if he defaces, alters, removes, destroys, injures, mutilates or disperses any protected monument," intones Jodha Ram Babar, deputy director, department of archaeology and museums, Rajasthan when we corner him.

So, how come hardly any cases of this kind come into notice? Isn't it strange that people are not charged even when clearly caught red-handed? When there is such huge evidence?

"The procedure is so long that it is not possible to enforce it upon anyone," says BL Gupta, director, archaeology and museums. So, why hasn't the department done anything over all these years to mend the provisions? "We are trying for some amendment in the Act," Gupta says when pressed on immediate and strict imposition of the fine on the spot.

It is only a matter of conjecture as to how long will the department actually take to wake up. Neither does the government seem very concerned about this gross mutilation of hundreds of years old heritage that the world travels to marvel at.

And the indifference only flows downward. None of the guards appointed at any of these buildings are even aware of the provision of penalty under the Act. Nor are they too bothered about all the sacrilege taking place right under their noses. At the most, they warn anyone they catch, but admit openly to failing to stop them.

Rajesh Bramhabhatt, one of the guards at Amber fort, says, "Whenever we see any one writing on the walls we tell them not to do it. But we are not able to stop them from writing in the interiors," citing insufficient number of guards. Shakeel Khan, another guard at Amber, tells After Hrs, "we tell people not to do such things but they don't listen!"

It is the same story at Nahargarh Fort. "We don't have sufficient guards at the fort and it is not possible for us to follow each and every person to see what he is doing," says Satya Narayan Saini an employee at the fort. "And as we don't have the fine receipt book, we cannot immediately impose a fine on any one," he adds.锟?

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"The main problem is that we can't 'misbehave' with the tourist as we get scolded by our officers," reveals Nathu Lal Verma, also at Nahargarh. And, because of this, all of Nahargarh is replete with names, records of visits and love messages rather than the 'abode of tigers' that Jaipur founder锟?Sawai Jai Singh II built!

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http://watches2010.blog.bokee.net/bloggermodule/blog_viewblog.do?id=5366191