The Senate Sub-committee on National Heritage & Culture has expressed concerns over restrictions on public access to Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah’s mausoleum in Karachi, observing that such limitations disconnect the youth from their national roots and cultural identity.
The committee stressed that security of the general public should be ensured, and urged all stakeholders to make the mausoleum fully accessible in this regard. Reviewing the administrative, technical and management issues concerning the Mazar-e-Quaid, sub-committee chairman Senator Syed Waqar Mehdi, who presided over the body’s meeting at the Karachi Commissioner’s Office on Wednesday, stressed the need for stronger coordination among all the departments and institutions concerned to improve public facilities and ensure effective management of the mausoleum.
Mehdi said that public access to the Mazar-e-Quaid should be facilitated and encouraged, adding that educational visits, public libraries and school activities around the premises would promote civic engagement and strengthen the younger generation’s connection with the nation’s history and heritage.
Members of the committee collectively suggested that the impression of preferential access for VIPs among ordinary citizens must be dispelled by providing access to the masses at large. They also stressed the need to enhance efficiency at the mausoleum with respect to water and electricity supply, and the installation of surveillance cameras.
The committee emphasised the need for a comprehensive, long-term reform policy rather than temporary or one-time measures, and urged the relevant authorities to adopt a coordinated, sustainable approach to preserving, securing and managing the Mazar-e-Quaid.
The sub-committee also participated in a special anti-polio campaign held at the Commissioner’s House, reaffirming the government’s commitment to eradicating the crippling disease from Pakistan.
