IT is amazing that on Wednesday last the shopkeepers of the walled city protested against the plans of this new barely two-week old quasi-political-bureaucratic `heritage` `authority` which stands pitted against the 12-year-old Walled City of Lahore Authority (WCLA).

This protest made me change my column written the same day. Strange timing.

On the cultural, conservation and tourism bureaucracy front of Lahore a lot is taking place.

There is a need to discuss and understand how this Lahore Authority for Heritage Revival (LAHR) was set up two weeks ago, with the current Punjab government politicians heading this `authority`. Its members are all serving bureaucrats, plus the current head of the Walled City of Lahore Authority chief, himself a supra-bureaucrat.

One learns from unofficial sources that he will also be `guiding` the LAHR once the WCL A probably fades away, but naturally subservient to the political-bureaucratic `rulers`.

Will that happen? The slogans in the photograph of the traders protest published in this newspaper show the slogans all against the LAHR. All the protest boards are the same with the word LAHR written promi-nently. The area of interest should be the WCLA, yet these traders prefer the new authority. Why so? My research unfolds a not very nice story.

The point is will the WCLA fade away? Ambiguity assists both politicians and bureaucrats, for if things go wrong, they are not to blame. But first let us dwell on a few positives that are in process. Newspaper reports last week stated that this new LAHR will be responsible for conserving-rebuilding all the 13 gateways of the walled city, plus the entire missing walls would be rebuilt and the outer garden restored.

All illegal shops will be pulled down. Phew, that is a tall order.

For this to take place they would have to remove the hundreds if not thousands of illegal trading shops and markets, both small and large. That would be a task the WCLA has been unable to carry out over the last 12 years of its existence. The sheer political clout of the traders, whose political front are the new LAHR leaders, has halted this from taking place. Just why would these politicians desire what they have always opposed? For this reason alone, the political-bureaucratic structure of the LAHR will surely make sure these objectives will be impossible to achieve.

The question, as one senior bureaucrat put forward was: `I hope this is not a way to dis-solve the current structure`.

Surely, this is a task destined to collapse.

The lofty objectives of the LAHR aside, let us take a look at what the WCLA is undertaking at the moment. Their concentration on bringing back to life the entire past of the LahoreFortneedstobe understood. It is a mission that should be appreciated.

For starters the Lahore Fort `wall picture` continues to be restored and conserved. It is the world`s largest wall picture and is recognised by Unesco as an `outstanding` heritage monument. This work has been ongoing for the last six years, and the results so far have been excellent.

Inside the fort there is much more going on. Nearly all the Mughal monuments which tourists rush to see have been restored and conserved. There have been ups and downs no doubt, but by and large a reasonable quality of work can be seen. But to my mind two major undertakings are in process.

They are the underground halls and rooms, and even more important is the yet unknown deep structural findings.

In our youth we used to hear stories of how rulers managed to escape through secret underground tunnels. Today we know that they actually exist and are being worked on.

A few have been restored. The romance of these will be opento all visitors soon.

On the eastern side of the fort is Akbari Gate, which is the original main gate of the fort.

This is the gateway where the Punjabi freedom fighter Dullah Bhatti was hung after being skinned alive by the Emperor Akbar. The current main gateway was put up by Aurangzeb as he set about building the Badshahi Mosque opposite it.

In between the fort and the mosque is the Hazuri Bagh.

Recently, all the buildings that housed the archaeology department employees have been, and rightly so, demolished. In this space there is an effort to dig deep into finding out the ancient structures that could be there. It is an effort well worth the try. Given the ancient shape of the fort, this space is most likely to reveal some rare findings.

This is just to recall that in 1959 the archaeological dig opposite the Dewan-i-Aam by the British and Pakistani archaeological departments produced pottery and articles carbon-dated at over 4,500 years at 50 feet. Here one historical fact needs to be kept in mind.

The ancient fort before Akbar expanded it, as well as walled the entire old city, existed on the eastern side.

Therefore, there is a possibility that if they dug deep, even more ancient findings can come forth. In a discussion with people responsible forthis task, they were cautious that they would not dig too deep. `We are just searching for the old foundations` was the very cautiousresponse.

The point is that if some important findings emerge it would give a broader picture of the age of ancient Lahore. Just outside that ancient portion is the Temple of Lava, the younger son of Rama and Sita whose name is pronounced as `L oh` and hence `Loh-awar` or Lahore. The elder son was Kush, after whom is named Kasur. What is the temples age? This has yet to be determined.

The work inside the Lahore Fort is an ongoing process and each new discovery adds to its history and mystique. In this respect one must appreciate the work of the WCLA because with time they have achieved goals that once seemed impossible.

As their work continues to suddenly confront a situation where the WCL A itself is allegedly under threat, only to be replaced by an exceptionally dubious political-bureaucratic `organisation` makes one worry. The two heads are not known as `intellectuals` in any sense. We all know their political objectives.

Now let us have a brief look at the Hazuri Bagh. It has a marble structure whose materials were stolen by the Sikh ruler from six different Mughalmarble structures of Lahore. It was a double-storey structure which was completed in 1818 by Ranjit Singh to celebrate the `capture` of the Koh-e-Noor diamond. In 1932 a lightening storm damaged the upper storey. The damaged marble pieces lie in the fort store. The question is, will this be restored? So as some amazing work continues to be undertaken in and outside the Lahore Fort, and some massive plans are announced for this new political-bureaucratic LAHR organisation, just how will the future unfold? This is the worrying aspect ofthe conservation and restoration work of old and ancient Lahore.

Will both organisations continue to exist side by side, or will WCL A fade away, as seems to be the impression. The `managed` protest seems to indicate a political move. If our culture becomes `political` then the saying `Allah Khair Karay` fits in well.

In a city as ancient and diverse as Lahore, the amount of work surely is a never-ending proposition. Each progression brings in more and more tourists, local and foreign. As time passes, the people controlling the cultural process should be specialists. The LAHR structure ensures the opposite. That is why this issue is very important, and needs resolving.