A past that lives into the future
Himanshu Prabha Ray, former chairperson of the National Monuments Authority (NMA), Ministry of Culture, told Gulf News, “The first event in relation to protection of monuments was the enactment of Ancient Monuments Preservation Act 1904, when John Marshall was the director general of ASI and India was under colonial rule. Until the time of Independence in 1947, about 2,500 monuments were declared ‘nationally protected monuments.’”
In the 1950s, a second category of ‘state protected monuments’ was created in keeping with India’s federal structure.
Under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains (AMASR) Act 1958, another 1,000 monuments were added to the list. These largely comprised 450 monuments that were under the princely states. “One of the problems that arose - and which was not considered at the time of renewal of the Act - was that when the monuments were declared protected in 1904, the land around them was considered part of it. But the precise definition (of the land) was not suggested. Thus, when the Lands Act changed, there was no clarity as to what percentage of land was private, how much was owned by the government and what came under the jurisdiction of monuments,” Prabha Ray said.
As if that was not enough, the AMASR Act 2010 came as the new law. Sohail Hashmi, a heritage enthusiast, recalled that this law greatly complicated the issue for those living around the monuments.
“Earlier guidelines prohibited construction of any building within a radius of 50-metres of a protected monument. But the new law states that no new construction can happen within 100 metres and no expansion or modification is permissible in existing structures within a 300-metre radius. This placed those who had built according to the original stipulation in a quandary. They could not make alterations to their homes,” he said.
Meanwhile, another (new) law now authorises the central government to allow construction within 100 metres of protected monuments in case the project is ‘in the national interest’,” Hashmi said.
Prabha Ray, former professor, Centre for Historical Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, said the ASI still follows the colonial principles on archaeological conservation. Whereas, practices adopted by agencies such as the Aga Khan Trust for Culture for Humayun’s Tomb, New Delhi, lead to a brilliant example of restoration and this needs to be considered.
Commenting on the government move to outsource the maintenance of Red Fort to a private entity (Dalmia Bharat), Prabha Ray said, “We should utilise our energies on the betterment of our heritage. What is urgent and important is to have a larger debate on the list of monuments that need to be protected and how.”