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Journalism of Courage
A broken narrow staircase next to Rajesh Kumar’s house in Hastsal village leads to a dumping ground where hens run amok amid plastic waste and vegetable peels, surrounded by two-storey brick homes. In the centre stands a 17th century hunting lodge, with graffiti on its walls and pieces of its red sandstone fallen on the ground. This is Hastsal Minar — which looks similar to the Qutub Minar — and is believed to have been built by emperor Shah Jahan, and is in desperate need of restoration.
“Officers come here and take stock of the damage, and then assure us that it will be restored, but nothing has happened. Once a block of red sandstone of the second-floor chhajja (balcony) fell…it’s still there on the ground. Luckily no one was injured at the time, but it can happen again…what if it falls on us or the house?” asked Kumar (52), who has lived in the house his whole life.
The Delhi chapter of the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) has prepared a detailed project report of Hastsal Minar, also called “mini Qutub Minar” and is awaiting permission from the state department of archaeology to restore it. “We have put Hastsal Minar in the list of monuments that have to be restored in 2018…it will happen this year,” said Vikas Maloo, Head of Office (Department of Archaeology). This is a state-protected monument and grade-I notified heritage structure, along with another 774 structures, as per the Urban Development department.
Over the years, two-storey buildings around the monument have sprouted from the ground, and it has automatically turned into a dumping ground. Ajay Kumar, projects director, INTACH-Delhi said, “It’s in a terrible shape and as per the report, we just want to consolidate it so that it doesn’t decay any further. We will replace the red sandstone wherever it’s missing, clean up the building and remove the graffiti and secure the minar.”
Hastsal Minar, built using lakhori bricks, stands tall at 16.87 metres on a raised platform, has three storeys, each with a reducing diameter, and is accessible through a narrow staircase. Just like the Qutub Minar, each storey is surrounded by an octagonal ring with red sandstone chajjas.
The residents have always only seen the three storeys of the monument. Even early 20th-century historian Zafar Hasan documented it as a three-storey broken structure. He wrote, “Locally it is said that it originally consisted of five storeys and was crowned by a domed chhatri but the two topmost storeys subsequently disappeared…the statement that it was originally five-storeys high does not seem to be true, possibly it was topped by a chhatri which is not now existing”.
For 11-year-old Vineet and Monu, the monument is a playground. “There is an underground tunnel from here to Bara Dari, the haveli a few houses away. My grandmother told me about how all the children used to climb to the top of the Minar and play there…no one lets us enter the Minar,” said Vineet, who was convinced till recently that this was the Qutub Minar itself. Kumar, the keeper of keys, is, however, awaiting restoration work to begin at the earliest.
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