Preneet apprehends shifting of Patiala artefacts to Amritsar
Sunday, 22/05/2016
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PATIALA: Former union minister and local MLA Preneet Kaur has shown apprehensions that the Punjab government is planning to shift various artefacts, which are part of the city’s heritage, from Patiala to Amritsar.
She said, the special principal secretary to chief minister Parkash Singh Badal, KJS Cheema, had secretly visited Sheesh Mehal in Patiala last month, where he had inspected the artefacts.
In a statement, Kaur said, she had been told that Cheema had visited Sheesh Mahal to identify artefacts for shifting these to Gobindgarh Fort Museum in Amritsar.
She disclosed that a delegation of prominent citizens, including lawyers and art lovers from Patiala called her for preventing such move, if any. She assured the delegation that not even a single antique would be allowed to be taken away from Patiala.
Condemning the proposal, the former union minster took a dig at the Akali government, saying that having sold out prime properties of the town and siphoning off their sale proceeds, it was now been targeting the artefacts with intent to rob Patiala of its historic and heritage status.
Meanwhile, a group of lawyers from the city is already busy studying the legal position in this regard in the light of the Central as well as the State Ancient and Historical Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act, which provide for the protection of the antiques.
When contacted, KJS Cheema denied any such move and said he had visited the Sheesh Mehal as part of checking of inspection of restoration work, which the Punjab government was undertaking at historical sites at Amritsar, Ludhiana and Patiala. “I had gone there to inspect the restoration work, as the CM wants to personally monitor the utilisation of grants from the Asian Development Bank, which has funded this work,” he added.
