Preserving history

Photo: Kazi Tahsin Agaz Apurbo

In 2004, a 400 year-old-building situated in Shakhari Bazaar in Old Dhaka collapsed. This marked the beginning of one man's journey on the road to architectural and cultural preservation of a long neglected heritage. Architect Taimur Islam discovered that the reason for the collapse was not age related dilapidation, as the government claimed, but a 10 ft deep ditch being dug for building construction in an adjacent plot. He was appalled when the government labelled 90 other buildings in the same area as vulnerable and dangerous and planned to demolish them to build modern apartment complexes for the residents.
“Shakhari Bazaar happens to be the oldest living street in Dhaka,” says Islam, “Of all the ancient communities of crafts people, carpenters and weavers, this is the only one that has survived. My wife Humaira Zaman and I, along with some fellow architects got together to form a committee called Urban Study Group (USG), and started a campaign we called Save Puran Dhaka.”
The USG and their volunteers began to raise awareness about the importance of these structures in 2006-07 through photo exhibitions featuring buildings from the Mughal and Colonial times. In 2008 they started organising Heritage Walks through Old Dhaka and surrounding areas which were essentially guided tours through Shakhari Bazaar, featuring the historically significant Boro and Choto Katras, the Ruplal House, Armanitiola, ancient mosques, an Armenian Church, and much more. USG also promoted the craftsmanship of the locals to the National Arts Council to help them with their livelihood.
In 2007, Taimur Islam was selected as an Eisenhower Fellow. “This fellowship gives you an opportunity to visit 15 to 16 cities in the US to learn more on your field. His biggest achievement however was a grant USG received from the American Embassy in 2009 (Ambassador's Fund for Cultural Preservation) to help his cause.
In the past ten years, the efforts of Islam and USG, who faced much resistance from the locals and political entities, led to the forming of a Heritage Committee by the government and a Heritage List in 2009. This names about 93 sites in four areas of old and new Dhaka as heritage sites, and therefore, protected property. Islam still continues to promote his cause today.