250-year-old mosque bulldozed

For at least two-and-a-half centuries, Masjid Sehr, an architectural gem of masterful woodwork and stone-cutting [Credit: Express Tribune]

The cause was not sectarian hatred, natural disaster or accidental fire. Rather, there were simply too many people in the village who wanted to pray. The beautiful old mosque could not hold them all.  In our functional times, the village elders came together in a Jirga and decided unanimously to demolish the historic mosque. A new one is being built on the site.

The mosque did qualify for protection against structural damage under the antiquities law. Nevertheless, the will for expansion won out.

“Our great grandfather Sardar Mehmood Khan, a local landlord, had built the mosque about 250 years ago and it was named Sehr Masjid, which means ‘mosque built on height’,” said Sardar Muhammad Shafique, who claims to be one of the descendants of Sardar Mehmood Khan.READ MORE