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The National Archives of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan

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The National Archives of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan 220 American Archivist / Vol. 54 / Spring 1991 International Scene NANCY BARTLETT AND MARJORIE BARRITT, editors Downloaded from http://meridian.allenpress.com/american-archivist/article-pdf/54/2/220/2748228/aarc_54_2_8777g4340j634450.pdf by guest on 29 September 2021 The National Archives of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan TIMOTHY A. SLAVIN Abstract: The National Archives of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan presents a fascinating paradox for archivists interested in the work of their colleagues abroad. Faced with the separate problems of poverty, illiteracy, and martial law, the National Archives of Pakistan has established and maintained a model archival program for South Asia. The collections housed at the National Archives of Pakistan—a mix of manuscripts from the Moghul rulers to the administrative papers of the first years of government—reflect the multitude of paradoxes which Pakistan has come to represent. About the author: Timothy A. Slavin is the state archivist for the State of Rhode Island and Prov- idence Plantations. From 1987 to 1989 he served as assistant archivist for the Archives of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago. This article is based upon research conducted during a personal visit to Pakistan in January 1989. Chinese and American Approaches to Archives 221 FOR A FOREIGNER, PAKISTAN IS a COUntiy ever, were not included in the formula. Ex- of paradox. There are fabulous mosques and tant records left by the British were either impressive buildings in the face of a per burned, lost, or sequestered into one of the capita income of $310. A poet and philos- provincial archives. Archives in each of the opher, Muhammad Iqbal, is one of the four provinces that currently comprise Pak- country's most revered patriots despite the istan—the Punjab, Sind, Baluchistan, and Downloaded from http://meridian.allenpress.com/american-archivist/article-pdf/54/2/220/2748228/aarc_54_2_8777g4340j634450.pdf by guest on 29 September 2021 fact that nearly 76 percent of the population the Northwest Frontier Province—were is functionally illiterate. English is consid- deeded to Pakistan.1 Likewise, British gov- ered the lingua franca, yet Urdu is the na- ernmental records regarding the adminis- tional language, and Punjabi, Pushtu, tration of these areas were also given to Sindhi, and Baluchi can be heard in the Pakistan.2 The Directorate of Archives and provinces. The country carries with it a Libraries, however, was not established until wealth of historic sites such as Lahore Fort 1952. and Badshai Mosque built by Moghul rul- Although the Directorate of Archives and ers in the seventeenth century, and yet Pak- Libraries had no direct jurisdiction over each istan, as a country, is only forty-four years of the provincial archives (this being left to old. the province), it did seek to secure those Pakistan was born on 14 August 1947, records that concerned the founding and a result of the British decision to grant free- early development of Pakistan. Chief among dom to India. A separate Islamic state in these were the records of Pakistan's founder the subcontinent was initially the idea of and first president, Muhammad Ali Jinnah, Rahmat Ali, a graduate student in England. or as he is referred to among Pakistanis, The idea was further shaped by Pakistan's Quaid-i-Azam (The Great Leader). Also founder, first president, and revered pa- preserved in this project are the extant rec- triot, Muhammad Ali Jinnah, who fought ords of the All-India Muslim League, which for the partition of a Muslim state from served as the political power behind the de- India from 1933 until 1947. The struggle velopment of Pakistan in pre-partition days. for partition was herculean, and the grant- Because of the lack of any central reposi- ing of independence in 1947 was one of the tory, the directorate oversaw the placement few moments of celebration that Pakistan of these and other historically significant as a nation has enjoyed. materials into the libraries of various uni- The responsibility for documenting this versities in Pakistan. The materials have struggle has fallen primarily upon the Na- since been placed in the National Archives tional Archives of Pakistan (NAP). Initially of Pakistan. established as a separate program in 1974, In 1966 a plan for the establishment of the program has grown from a one-room the National Archives of Pakistan was pre- collection of historical papers to a 73,000 cubic foot storage facility located in the government's secretariat compound in Is- The geographically separate province of East Pak- lamabad. istan gained independence from Pakistan after a civil war in 1971, and is now known as Bangladesh. The Upon partition from the English Crown fifth province in West Pakistan, the Kashmir, is con- in 1947, resources for any particular geo- sidered "disputed territory" between India and Pak- graphic region were split between India and istan. Maps of Pakistan outline the four main provinces, and include the Kashmir as a shaded area. the newly formed Islamic Republic of Pak- 2Some materials, however, were destroyed by the istan. A calculated formula ensured that what British. Most notable among these were reports on the were previously British resources—every- activities of the Maharajas of India, who served as the autonomous rulers of the Princely States. On or- thing from buildings to guns to horses- ders from Sir Conrad Carfield, all such reports were were divided equitably. Archives, how- burned in June 1947. 222 American Archivist / Spring 1991 sented to the government. This plan was iat is tight, especially since the assassina- not formally enacted until 1973, when the tion of President Muhammad Zia al-Haq. National Archives of Pakistan "scheme" The military presence is heavy and persist- was approved with a budget of 175,860 ent, with numerous checkpoints required for Rupees (approximately $9,000 based on the passage into the various blocks. Verifica- current inflated exchange rate). The ar- tion of my appointment was checked three Downloaded from http://meridian.allenpress.com/american-archivist/article-pdf/54/2/220/2748228/aarc_54_2_8777g4340j634450.pdf by guest on 29 September 2021 chives then consisted of a one-room col- separate times; holding a letter of introduc- lection of the Quaid-i-Azam papers placed tion from the director general—procured under the administration of the Ministry of after a series of correspondence describing Education. the reasons for my visit—was mandatory. It was at this juncture that Atique Zafar The National Archives of Pakistan Sheikh was hired as the director general. Administration Building is a stunning ad- Since then, Sheikh has been the prime mover dition to the rows and rows of governmen- behind the growth of the National Archives tal office buildings that comprise the of Pakistan from its one-room dwelling to Secretariat. The building itself consists of its new building. Educated in library sci- 150,000 square feet of floor space; a little ence in England, Sheikh has sought to raise less than half of which is scheduled for rec- the awareness of archives within the coun- ords storage. The facility houses the ad- try by promoting educational workshops and ministrative offices, Records Storage seminars, hosting symposia and seminars, Section, Repair and Preservation Unit, Mi- and becoming an active player in the South crofilming and Photostating Unit, Publi- and West Asia Regional Branch of the In- cation Units, Private Collections Section, ternational Council on Archives (SWAR- Newspapers and Periodicals Section, and BICA). an exhibit hall. Separate reorganizations occurred in 1977 The staff of the National Archives of and 1979, when the National Archives of Pakistan consists of twenty-one officers— Pakistan was first moved into a bungalow nineteen of whom are professional archi- in the residential section of Islamabad, and vists with some training or education in ar- then (in 1979) into a 20,000 cubic foot fac- chival methods. tory in the commercial section of Islama- The collection policy of the National Ar- bad. Shortly after this second move, plans chives of Pakistan is divided into three cat- were formulated for the construction of a egories: public records, newspapers and formal National Archives of Pakistan periodicals, and private collections. building to be built in the secretariat block Public records is a growing area of col- in Islamabad. The administrative building lecting for the National Archives of Paki- of the National Archives of Pakistan was stan. Prior to 1974, not a single file was completed in 1988; ground was scheduled transferred from any government office to to be broken in 1990 for the NAP storage the National Archives of Pakistan; the dis- facility. position of records was made on an ad hoc Located in the new and surprisingly clean ministry-by-ministry basis. Initial efforts in city of Islamabad, the location of the Na- records management have resulted in ten tional Archives of Pakistan administration ministries actively transferring material to building is a clue to the status of the pro- the archives. Materials usually transferred gram. The building is located in the N-block are "A" category materials, considered to of the Pak Secretariat in Islamabad, a rel- be the vital (and permanent) records of a atively undeveloped section of the Secre- ministry. Such materials are transferred to tariat, situated at the base of the foothills the archives after five years and micro- of the Himalayas. Security in the Secretar- filmed for security reasons. The hard copy Chinese and American Approaches to Archives 223 is retained and the material is cataloged for days as a student in England until his death, use by the ministry. The material remains just shortly after independence, in 1948. under restriction (for use only by the min- Reflecting its popularity with researchers, istry) for a period of thirty years, after which the collection has been processed and is it is open to researchers.
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