BAHAWALPUR: Two huge antique locks said to be used at now defunct Bahawalpur State’s decaying Derawar Fort were presented to Commissioner Saqib Zafar for displaying these at the Bahawalpur Museum on Saturday.

The heavy locks said to be some eight decades old were presented to the commissioner by a former MPA, Samiullah Chadhury, who is also unofficial nominated member of the museum’s newly-constituted board of governors (BoG) that held its inaugural meeting at the museum.

The meeting was presided over by BoG Chairman Senator Saood Majid Chaudhry.

The commissioner told Dawn on cell phone that one of the antique locks, which was operative, bore 1941 as year of its manufacturing. The other, he said, was not operative.

One of the locks, which are of different shape and size, bears ‘Aligarh’ on it, while on the other “Made in London (England)” is embossed, along with the name of manufacturing firm.

Museum Director Muhammad Zubair Rabbani said apparently each lock weighed around four to five kilo.

Samiullah Chaudhry told Dawn on phone that the locks had been given to him about 10 years ago by some members of the Abbasi family and he had donated these to the museum.

The director said the locks would be showcased in the museum for researchers and historians.

He said a study might be conducted to know the exact age of the locks and the information would also be displayed at the museum.

Sahibzada Qamaruz Zaman Abbasi, a great grandson of late Nawab Sadiq Muhammad Khan Abbasi, when contacted in Lahore on his cell phone, said he talked to the Chowkidar (watchman) of Derawar Fort, Muhammad Ramzan, who was in Cholistan to get information about the locks.

He said the watchman told him that a heavy lock marked with “Made in London” had been at the fort but it became inoperative about 10 years ago. He (Ramzan) said he had given this lock to Zarara Husain, an employee of Nawab Salahuddin Abbasi, for repair and that was never returned to him.

Meanwhile, an official handout issued here said the two locks, which were handed over to the commissioner by Samiullah Chaudhry belonged to the period of now defunct State of Bahawalpur. According to Mr Samiullah, the locks were put on the gates of Derawa Fort and palaces of the late Nawabs, it added.

BoG Chairman Senator Saood Majid said he would seek funds for the completion of the building of Sadiq Memorial Hall, the construction of which had been lying pending since 2007. The senator said all resources would be utilised for the up-keep of the museum building and its galleries of antiques.

The commissioner said a new gallery to display heritage of Bahawalpur would be established in the museum.

He approved a plan to launch the museum’s website and social media page to disseminate information about the antiques displayed at there. The data about the antiques would also be computerised under the plan.

The meeting also decided to fill the vacant museum posts and resolve the issue of the pension of its employees.

Published in Dawn, November 27th, 2016