Break the Silence: Preserve your Past, Present and Future

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p09rhqhn.jpg BBC
Archaeological site of Maya Civilization

Your silence will not only harm your historical significance but your very existence

  • Either in the form of land grabs on Sindh’s soil or by constructing dams and canals on the Indus, silence has not only swallowed you in the past but will continue to erase you completely
Aizaz Pirzado

A couple of days back, through BBC News, we learned that an ancient site connected to the Maya civilization was discovered in an ancient forest in Mexico, based on a LIDAR survey. Now, it raises the question: what exactly is this LIDAR survey?

Maya Civilization-1 BBC
Ruins of Maya Civilization- BBC Photo

LIDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) is an advanced method for capturing data about the surface landscape of a particular area of land. With this survey, we can identify previously unrecorded sites, estimate the full extent of known archaeological sites, and even learn about their condition…

Luke Ewald Thomas, a PhD student at Tulane University in the United States, mentioned that during a Google search, he found a laser being used for environmental monitoring by an institution in Mexico. This laser was actually part of a LIDAR survey, which mapped an area using laser technology from an aircraft. The technology and costs involved in LIDAR surveys are certainly high, but the significant aspect is that the world now has a technology that can discover, document, and preserve sites hidden from the naked eye, even those buried deep in the earth.

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Picture showing the remains of Valeriana

In 2013, a survey covered an area of 122 square kilometers in a forest. When an archaeologist examined this data, it led to the discovery of a significant site from the Maya civilization. This site has been named Valeriana, and it dates back to approximately 250 AD to 900 AD, with claims suggesting it once housed a city with a population of about 50,000 people.

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BBC says ‘Now we don’t have picture of Valeriana’

Responsibility for further investigation of this site has been assigned to the person who discovered it, and another team will conduct additional exploration and research under his supervision.

One noteworthy aspect is that the U.S., particularly the city of Mexico’s administration, has shared the news of this discovery with every citizen as a message of pride. They announced that, once research on the site is complete, it will be opened as a visiting point for those interested in history and archaeology. Dr. Farman Pirzado, who is currently pursuing higher education in Mexico, mentioned in our Bhalheraji Youth WhatsApp group that there’s an atmosphere of great joy among the people. Hearing of the discovery of a site belonging to their ancient civilization, the locals have been congratulating one another. This is what love, interest, and pride in one’s history and identity looks like.

Read: Massive rains cause major damage to Mohen Jo Daro

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Mohen Jo Daro stupa covered with plastic in rainy season

The only purpose of writing and sharing this with you is to reflect on whether there are traces of history in our region that also show evidence of heritage. They put in so much effort to discover a single site, whereas our Sindh is filled with ancient and historical sites. Forget about laser technology—have we even built a boundary wall around our historical sites? The answer will likely be no. Mohenjo-daro is filling with salt, and during the rainy season, it’s protected by plastic sheets. Lakhian Jo Daro, a site spread over fifty acres, has been encroached upon by factories and commercial societies. Will responsible institutions answer this, or claim that Sindh’s Indus Valley Civilization holds less historical significance than the Maya civilization? When the Maya civilization hadn’t even dreamed of their existence, we were treating mental illnesses with the positive use of uranium in the city of Mohenjo-daro, living in soundproof spaces, navigating both sea and land routes, and it was the people of the Indus Valley who invented zero for easy calculations and the wheel for easier travel. Our land was dignified and talented in every way. So, who is responsible for today’s situation?

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Remains of world heritage site Mohen Jo Daro DK Area

Young people of Sindh, elevate the standard of your thinking and question every institution. Are they even doing 10% of their job with honesty and integrity? If not, then how can we expect to see anything other than an administrative crisis, unemployment, hardships, and exploitation everywhere? If looters are everywhere, how will we achieve prosperity?

Read: The Dark Era of Sindh Archaeology

Apart from becoming aware, there’s no other way forward. Preserve your past, present, and future; otherwise, your silence will not only harm your historical significance but your very existence. Either in the form of land grabs on Sindh’s soil or by constructing dams and canals on the Indus, silence has not only swallowed you in the past but will continue to erase you completely.

If we want to change our conditions, the foremost duty is to evaluate our current state and remain aware of the issues at hand.

Read: Historical sites of Sindh in a state of disrepair

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Aizaz Pirzado is resident of Village Balhreji near Mohen Jo Daro, District Larkano Sindh. He has graduated in Archaeology and currently is doing M.Phil. on fast vanishing heritage sites in the province

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