Stone brings back that sinking feeling

‘‘We have no choice. All we can do is reverse the existing block and place it back in the structure. This is definitely not good for the monument but we really have no other alternative. We don’t get red sandstone in our country,’’ says Archaeology Department official Mohammed Ashraf supervising a batch of workers chipping away at some of the blocks removed from the monument.

If officials are using every trick in the trade to keep Jehangir’s tomb in shape, they seem to have given up on the tomb of Noor Jehan’s brother Asif Khan (also Mumtaz Mahal’s father). Situated in the same compound, this tomb presents a tortured facade with several blocks of stone missing. In contrast to his daughter’s tomb in Agra, the marble seems to have virtually vanished from the monument housing Asif Khan’s last remains.

‘‘The last time we got stone from India was in 1981. The conservation done during that period was good enough for over a decade. But in the mid-’90s, we realised there was need for some major conservation. However, by the time we wanted to place orders for red sandstone, the political situation had deteriorated. None of the contractors in Rajasthan could confirm delivery and neither could we go and fetch it. After 2001, all links were snapped,’’ says another Archaeology Department official Akram Khan. According to these officials, even for good quality marble Pakistan has to depend on Indian quarries.

Ashraf insists that Pakistan has the expertise to carry out the conservation on its own. ‘‘Ab aap log aaye hain to shayad mahol sudhar jaaye aur yeh patthar India se hum idhar la sake (Now that you people have come, may be the environment will improve and we will be able to bring stones from India).’’