Plea to stop defacing monuments
EMPEROR ASHOKA, who was deeply moved following Kalinga War and thereafter had embraced non-violence, would have been again distraught by the acts of deliberately destroying or damaging monuments of historical importance, had he been alive, said Mohammed K K, the Superintendent Archeologist of the Archaeological Survey of India, Bhopal Circle, while speaking on Tuesday at the World Heritage Week here at the tomb of Mohammed Ghaus.
EMPEROR ASHOKA, who was deeply moved following Kalinga War and thereafter had embraced non-violence, would have been again distraught by the acts of deliberately destroying or damaging monuments of historical importance, had he been alive, said Mohammed K K, the Superintendent Archeologist of the Archaeological Survey of India, Bhopal Circle, while speaking on Tuesday at the World Heritage Week here at the tomb of Mohammed Ghaus.
“We have carefully evolved a theme aimed at conservation and preservation of our monuments. The monumental wealth is being damaged by the ignorant people, who indulge in graffiti on beautiful structures. It must be stopped with the coordinated efforts of all concerned people”, he pleaded.
He said, “The ASI has taken this daunting task of educating people and creating awareness and on the occasion of World Heritage Week we administered oath to schoolchildren for refraining from such practices. These schoolchildren will, in turn, discourage others who indulged in defacing monuments”, said KK.
A group of schoolchildren at Mohammed Ghaus’s tomb stood around a replica of Ashoka Pillar to take oath for preservation and conservation of monuments. Mohammed KK underlined the keen interest taken by Member of Parliament Jyotiraditya Scindia and State Tourism Minister in strengthening and renovation of monuments in the State. Earlier, Jyotiraditya Scindia was scheduled to address the inaugural session of World Heritage Week here.
Mohammed KK said the UNESCO list of 700 sites of world heritage include 26 monuments from Madhya Pradesh. Out of these, three sites — Bhimbetka, Khajuraho and Sanchi — are being further excavated, conserved and environmentally developed.
Further, the ASI has sent proposal for development of two more sites — Mandu and Bhojpur Temple — under the project. Jiwaji University acting Vice-Chancellor Prof O P Agrawal, Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) convener H B Maheshwari, Jiwaji University archeology department HoD Ramawtar Sharma and others were present on the occasion. The World Heritage Week will conclude on November 25.
