Srinagar, May 01: Stating that the Soura residence of late Sheikh Abdullah should be declared as Heritage Site, senior congress leader Saif-u-Din Soz has expressed his dismay over the depilated condition of the house which, he added, was of great historic importance. Part of the structure collapsed last year due to the negligence of successive governments, a press release issued here said.
The press release further added that Soz visited the site and met with the locals and assured them that he would urge the Archaeological Survey of India to declare the premises as a Heritage site. “Among the people who gathered here, some elders said that when they were young, they had seen very prominent people frequenting the house,” Soz was quoted by the press release as saying.
While talking to the locals, Soz reminded them that apart from Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, Gaffar Khan, Abdul Samad Khan Uchakzai, Maulana Azad and the luminaries from the other side including Faiz Ahmad faiz, Mian Amiruddin, Mohammad Din Taseer, Sheikh Sadiq Hassan and others had visited this house. “I also told them that it was here that Pakistan’s emissary Sheikh Sadiq Hassan had met Sheikh Saheb and Gulam Ahmad Ashai to discuss Kashmir’s future,” the press release added.
Soz also said that he had the ‘privilege’ having met Late Sheikh Saheb near the Chinar Tree alongwith Sahibzada Hassan Shah, (the then Principal M.A.M College, Jammu) and Prof. G.N. Sidiqi in 1966. He assured that the first thing he did on his return was to take up the issue with the Director General, Archaeological Survey of India to urge her to declare the premises as a Heritage site.
