I RECENTLY visited Khanspur, about 80km from Islamabad, with my family on a pleasure trip. It is a quiet town with a small population and wonderful weather. During a morning walk, I saw many old military barracks and quarters being occupied by government schools and departments as well as by some private citizens. These landmark buildings aroused my curiosity about the hill station’s colonial past, but there was no information centre or any other facility in the area to satisfy my curiosity.

While wandering in the town, I came across a middle-aged native man who told me a few things about the place and its colonial past. He said the weather of the town was very similar to that of the United Kingdom, and, during the British era, the place used to be a regular summer destination for officers and their families.

The man claimed that after Partition, the abandoned properties of the empire were occupied by powerful people of the area, and the government managed to reclaim only a few.

On return to my room, I browsed the internet to learn about the town’s colonial history, but could not find any detailed articles on its history. I came across only one article, written 17 years ago. The article was not about the colonial history of the town, but the comments section had two interesting entries.

One was written by Jerry Wraith in May 2008 who said Khanspur was his birthplace. The second comment was by Leslie Nicholas who said he lived in Khanspur from 1934 to 1936.

He wrote that the place “was a hill station for the British army, and the families would stay here whilst their men were serving on the plains in places, such as Risalpur, Nowshera and Rawalpindi”.

I wonder why there is no information centre or other facility for tourists that could tell them about the colonial past of the town. Why did the government not establish a museum to preserve the past?

Aamir Raza
Islamabad

Published in Dawn, September 14th, 2024