INTACH Appeals to Nitish Kumar to Save Renowned Khuda Bakhsh Library of Patna
The library, started in 1891 by eminent personality Khuda Bakhsh Khan, a bibliophile from Bihar who had painstakingly built the collection, is a jewel of art, culture and academia.
Khuda Baksh Library, Patna. Photo: Mukram Khan, CC BY-SA 3.0/Wikimedia Commons
History14 hours ago
Patna: INTACH, or the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage, has appealed to Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar to spare the demolition of the front portion of the 130-year-old Khuda Bakhsh Library, saying razing of any part of the celebrated institution will be a “monumental loss of heritage” for not just Patna, but the entire world.
New Delhi, India – A plan to demolish part of a 130-year-old library to construct a flyover is being widely slammed in India.
Authorities in the eastern Indian state of Bihar are contemplating razing the front part of the Khuda Bakhsh Oriental Public Library, located in the heart of the state capital, Patna.
The move has triggered outrage among academics and conservationists, with dozens of the city’s prominent intellectuals urging the state government to preserve the heritage structure.
The Bihar government’s bridge construction department wants to build a $50m 2.2km (1.3-mile) flyover in order to resolve traffic congestion in the state’s main city and has sought a no-objection certificate from the library.
Hold back your bulldozers, Mr. Nitish Kumar, don’t erase KBL, a living piece of learning
By Mohammed Wajihuddin| Published: 10th April 2021 8:47 pm IST Khuda Bakhsh Oriental Public Library
Mohammed Wajihuddin
My London-based friend Shamsuddin Agha has sent me a video. In the viral video retired IPS officer Amitabh Kumar Das is seen protesting the proposed demolition of a portion of the historic Khuda Bakhsh Oriental Public Library’s (KBL) heritage building in Patna. This is to facilitate the construction of a flyover. Das plans to petition the Patna High Court too to stop the attempt to erase part of our intellectual heritage. Several newspapers, radio and television channels have carried people’s angst against this proposed demolition. A senior journalist-colleague in Patna tells me the government is adamant on building the flyover on that patch of the Ashok Rajpath in Patna and many institutions, including parts of Patna Medical College, Government Urdu Library and
Hold back your bulldozers, Mr Nitish Kumar April 9, 2021, 7:07 PM IST
A senior assistant editor with the Times of India, Mohammed Wajihuddin writes about Muslims, their issues, hopes and aspirations. Committed to upholding inclusiveness, communal amity and freedom to dissent and debate, he endeavours to promote peaceful existence. A passionate reader of Islam, he endeavours to save the faith from the clutches of the jihadists. An ardent lover of Urdu poetry, he believes words are the best weapons to fight jingoism. LESS. MORE
My London-based friend Shamsuddin Agha has sent me a video. In the viral video retired IPS officer Amitabh Kumar Das is seen protesting the proposed demolition of a portion of the historic Khuda Bakhsh Oriental Public Library’s (KBL) heritage building in Patna. This is to facilitate the construction of a flyover. Das plans to petition the Patna High Court too to stop the attempt to erase part of our intellectual heritage. Several newspape