The excerpts have been taken from Fauzia Minallah’s forthcoming book Glimpses Into Islamabad’s Soul.
Mehra Beri, Sihala and Chauntra - three small villages situated in the Sector E-10 - are the custodians of some of the rich heritage of Potohar. But these villages like other villages of Islamabad are under threat from the ‘development process’.
Very soon bulldozers will enter this undeveloped sector, and this particular area of Potohar will loose even more traces of its heritage.
On a small mound in Sector E-10 sits a serene little mosque, rich in history and relics from the past. One can see it from the busy Margalla Road between F-10 and E-10.
Its walls are not made of modern bricks, but rather stones, very similar to those one finds in the old houses of Saidpur village.
Near its entrance is a well, which bears a marble plaque with the name of the owner, Khan Mohammad Khan, son of Mahdo Khan, the numburdar of Moza (village) Sihala, engraved on it.
As it is dated 1953, at that time little did Khan Sahib know that this area of his ancestors would transform right in front of his eyes.
The mosque has carved windows with metalwork used in the artisanship. The most interesting feature of the mosque is its carved wooden pillars in the small veranda.
The shape of the wooden beams of these pillars is reminiscent of the famous wooden pillars from Swat, NWFP, and indicates the Gandhara influence.
Although these pillars have some carving, it is not as rich as the one found in the Swati woodcarving. On the other hand, one witnesses beautiful carvings of scrolls and foliage found in Gandhara art, on the borders of the small wooden windows and the main door that leads to the inner section of the mosque.
The windows are in dilapidated condition whereas the door is in good shape, painted green and combines woodcarving and iron masonry in the artisanship. The floor of the courtyard has maroon and white tiles with designs of ‘Mehrabs’ as used on prayer mats.
It seems as if this was the family mosque of Khan Mohammad as there are five graves in the courtyard. Four of them are unmarked, two seem very old while one relatively new, has a marble tombstone and indicates the identity of the deceased brother of Khan Mohammad Khan, Haji Lal Khan and son of Mahdo Khan, who died in 1967.
One experiences a feeling of sublime calm while sitting in the courtyard of the mosque. From the elevation one could see at a distance people harvesting wheat fields, mud thatched houses with milkmen and their buffaloes, children grazing their goats and magnificent old Pipals, Banyans and other indigenous trees such as Shisham, Kikar, Toot etc., with the Margalla hills in the background.
It is sad that the people of Sihala and neighbouring Mehra Bheri villages, for whom this land was inherited by preceding generations, will leave this area very soon. Their fate was sealed in President Ayub Khan’s time.
While one can only wish these rural and cultural touches remain in Islamabad, at least some of the original residents had the right to stay in their ancestral abodes.
However, this is not a possibility for the people who happen to be in the E-10 area, as this is where we will have the new General Headquarters of the Army.
One can hope that the old mosque is spared demolition and preserved for future generations, as a respect for the lost heritage of the original inhabitants of this area.
The grand old trees can be easily incorporated in parks and green areas by developers of the E-10 area, and these are at least six in number.