Punjab Government Shelves Plan to Build Allama Mashriqi Museum and Library

Chandigarh May 16: The Punjab Government seems to have shelved plans to build an Allama Mashriqi Museum and Library for unknown reasons. There seems to have been no action on the museum project since the time the Daily News wrote about it over 10 years ago. The much-needed museum/library project would have served as a tremendous resource for academic researchers, journalists, students, and others, seeking to learn about Pakistan, India, and Bangladesh’s history during the crucial pre-partition and post-partition era. The cancellation of the project is even more surprising considering that interest in Mashriqi – from his life story to his impact on the demise of colonial rule in the Indian sub-continent to his political, philosophical, and religious ideas - has grown in both the East and the West.
It is important to remember that Mashriqi, his family, and followers made tremendous sacrifices for the freedom 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-Islah were banned, one of Mashriqi’s sons 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. Yet Mashriqi refused to surrender or cooperate and did not relent until the Sub-Continent was freed from foreign rule in 1947.
Hopefully, the Government of Punjab will take immediate steps to establish an Allama Mashriqi museum and library. The Governments of Pakistan, India, and Britain should also declassify Mashriqi and the Khaksar Tehrik’s 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 still inaccessible to these institutions and continue to rot in various archives in Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, and the United Kingdom. The Government must reinstate the Allama Mashriqi museum/library project to provide a balanced and accurate picture of the history of the sub-continent.