Farheen Ujjan

         The Central Bank of India Branch in Shikarpur 

''A people without the knowledge of their past history, origin and culture is like a tree without roots'' 
Shikarpur which was considered as the Paris of Sindh is not only famous for its pickle, sweets, kulfi falooda seven gates, its rich tradition, culture, history but Central Bank of India Branch in Shikarpur is also one of them, which adds beauty to the Shikarpur city and tops the list of most popular landmarks in Shikarpur district.
The former branch office of the Central bank of India was constructed in 1940 CE, before the partition of sub-continent with the collaboration of Shikarpuri Hindu traders to facilitate the traders of Shikarpur and it is still located in Shaikh Mohalla Shikarpur Sindh.

The concept of banking system also had started from Shikarpur in the form of Hundi, And the Shikarpuris are the pioneers of the Hundi which was acceptable in different parts of the world and considered as good as gold, later on the banking system was introduced by the local traders (Hindus) and contributed to establish the bank building in the city.
It is believed that a person who settled (muhajir) whose name could not discover, purchased this building in Rs 13000 in the year of 1950 through an auction.
After a couple of few months, Akbar Ali Shaikh bought this building from that settler in Rs 15000 in the year of 1950.
In 1959, after having nine years of the ownership, Akbar Shaikh decided to rent out the ground floor of the building to the Education Department on a monthly rent of Rs 60 with the view of promoting education among girls in the area.
As there was no educational facility for girls so they decided to publish a school for girls named Primary Girls (Urdu and Sindhi) School.
Now the building has become shabby and needs immediate repair but in spite of that the heirs of Akbar Shaikh, including his son Qadir and his family are still living in the building.
However, the owner cannot meet the expense of its renovation due to their financial issues.
They want it to be renovate and protected by the department responsible for its preservation as heritage.
The building has a reasonable accommodation while expensive Sagwan wood was used in making of all the doors, windows including fittings and main electricity board of the rooms.
When the flood had hit the province of Sindh in 2010, the building owner had asked the deputy commissioner to vacate the building, as he feared that the flood victims will ruin the structure of the building by occupying it in the name of shelter.
In result, the department vacated the building and shifted the school to some other place.
In 1998, UNESCO had declared 1,203 buildings of Shikarpur as cultural heritage, but 250 buildings have been destructed, said Prof Dr Anila Naeem of NED University, who has done extensive research on Shikarpur and its historical buildings.
After the partition of sub-continent, it losts it's worth & beauty, but it is still located in Shaikh Mohalla Shikarpur.
But unfortunately, it has been turned into residential building by CBI, the building has been a subject of negligence by the Endowment Fund Trust, an institution responsible for the preservation of the heritage of Sindh.
The members of the civil society have demanded from the government to take keen interest in Shikarpur’s heritage and play their role to preserve them for enormous interests of the nation.
I am talking about something that cannot be bought, it's our heritage, and it needs to be preserved for community, government should take some steps to protect it.
''A concerted effort to preserve our heritage is a vital link to our cultural, educational, aesthetic, inspirational and economic legacies, all of the things that quite literally make us who we are''