ISLAMABAD: The Ministry of National Heritage and Culture has refused permission to relocate a British era World War I memorial after developers of a housing society sought approval to move the monument to make way for a commercial area, citing serious legal and heritage concerns.
An official of the ministry said the memorial cannot be shifted unless it is first protected under the law. For legal protection, the Capital Development Authority is required to provide the relevant revenue record, which has not been submitted despite repeated reminders over several years.
The World War I memorial was erected after 1914 by the British Empire to honour local soldiers from nearby villages who fought in the Great War. Located on Kuri Road near Rehara village, the monument now faces the threat of demolition due to development activities linked to CDA and a private housing scheme.
Developers have cut and levelled the surrounding ground using heavy machinery, leaving the memorial standing on a precarious mound estimated to be 35 to 40 feet high. Officials warned that the structure has tilted and faces a real risk of collapse due to continued excavation around its base.
The Department of Archaeology and Museums, responsible for surveying and protecting historical sites in the federal capital, expressed alarm after viewing images of the endangered memorial. The department last formally wrote to the CDA chairman in May last year, urging the authority to provide revenue records needed to declare the site protected.
According to ministry officials, repeated correspondence sent since 2020 seeking documentation for the war memorial and nearby heritage sites, including the Mughal era Rehara mosque, has gone unanswered by CDA. Without these records, legal protection cannot be initiated.
The CDA has defended the proposal, stating that developers intended to relocate the memorial to a nearby roundabout for improved visibility. However, the archaeology department rejected the idea, arguing that moving the monument would undermine its historical significance. The heritage ministry warned that failure to act urgently could result in the irreversible loss of a culturally significant landmark in Islamabad.
