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Punjab Government Shelves Plan to Build

Allama Mashriqi Museum and Library

The Punjab Government seems to have shelved plans to build an Allama Mashriqi Museum and Libraryfor unknown reasons. Over a decade ago, The Daily Times(June 09, 2004) reported that the Governmentof Punjab was moving forward on plans to build an Allama Mashriqi Museum and Library in Lahore. TheDaily Timeswrote at the time:

The Punjab government plans to build a library-cum-museum in honour of Allama InayatullahKhan Mashriqi. The museum will house his articles, artefacts, unpublished manuscripts and a

1942-model Renault-Benz MercedesThe sources said the Punjab government wants to preservethe heritage of the late Allama Mashriqi to inform future generations about the genius of the man.

The orders to build the museum reportedly come from top Punjab government officials, who met

with the late Allama's family

Further highlighting Mashriqis caliber, TheDaily Times wrote, British newspapers wrote

about Allama Mashriqi in 1930 calling him agenius of untold possibilities. The DailyTimes referred to him as "the biggest

mathematician in any nationality of theworld.

There seems to have been no action on the

museum project since the time that the DailyNews wrote about it over 10 years ago. Themuch-needed museum/library project wouldhave served as a tremendous resource foracademic researchers, journalists, students,

and others seeking to learn about Pakistan,India, and Bangladeshs history during the

crucial pre-partition and post-partition era. The cancellation of the project is even more surprisingconsidering that interest in Mashriqifrom his life story to his impact on the demise of colonial rule in theIndian sub-continent to his political, philosophical, and religious ideas - has grown in both the East and the

West. Some examples of this growing interest include:

A large number of people around the worldfrom academics to writers to the general publicvisit

social media and other web sites that provide information on him

World-famous research libraries (including in Australia, Africa, Europe and North America) have

added books or historic materials about Mashriqi and his Khaksar Tehrik to their collections

Digital libraries have also added rare pieces about Mashriqi and the Khaksar Tehrik to their

collections

International delegations (German and Turkish) have visited the Khaksar Tehrik headquarters togather information about Mashriqi and his movement. Academics, journalists, students, and othersalso visit the movements headquarters.

Prestigious publications have included information on Mashriqi and the Khaksar Tehrik

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It is important to remember that Mashriqi, his family, and followers made tremendous sacrifices for thefreedom of the Indian-subcontinent. Mashriqi was imprisoned and tortured, stabbed and threatened, his

movements were restricted, his property and bank accounts were confiscated, the Khaksar Tehrik and Al-Islahwere banned, one of Mashriqissons was killed during the struggle (while other sons were tortured),his daughter and wives received death threats, and his followers were jailed, prosecuted, and tortured. YetMashriqi refused to surrender or cooperate and did not relent until the sub-continent was freed from foreign

rule in 1947. The contributions and sacrifices of Mashriqi and his movement played a crucial role in thesub-continents history.

Hopefully, the Government of Punjab will take immediate steps to establish an Allama Mashriqi museumand library. The Governments of Pakistan, India, and Britain should also declassify Mashriqi and theKhaksar Tehriks materials. The materials that are available to libraries and other institutions today

represent only a small subset of the Khaksar materials produced; the remaining materials are stillinaccessible to these institutions and continue to rot in various archives in Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, and

the United Kingdom. Even Mashriqis rare and historicAl-Islahweekly newspaper remains unavailable intop research libraries in the East and West (digital files are now available on the internet).

The Government must reinstate the Allama Mashriqi museum/library project to provide a balanced and

accurate picture of the history of the sub-continent.

More information on Allama Mashriqi is available on the internet and social media sites, including:

https://www.facebook.com/AllamaMashriqi.1

https://www.facebook.com/Khaksar.Movement

https://www.youtube.com/c/AllamaMashriqi

Reported by:

1. World Tribune Pakistan, May 16, 2016

2. South Asian Pulse, May 16, 2016

3.

The News Now(India), May 16, 20164.

Asian Lite(United Kingdom), May 17, 20165. The Asian Today(United Kingdom), May 17, 20166. India Post(California, USA), May 27, 2016