Peshawar High Court: Open Bala Hisar Fort to public

PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court has ruled that the 18th-century Bala Hisar Fort in the heart of the city should be open to the public.
The fort is currently home to a contingent of Pakistan’s paramilitary Frontier Corps (FC), which is engaged in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province and the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA).
The two-judge bench heard on Tuesday a petition filed by advocate Khurshid Khan, who argued that the fort is a historical landmark and should be open to the public so people can learn about the city’s history.
At an earlier hearing, the court directed the FC and the government to file their response, but they did not do so.
This prompted the court to rule that if the fort cannot be vacated, it should at least be open to the public and handed over to civil administration.
Abdul Munim, a member of the provincial assembly, said KP’s government supports the idea of handing over the fort to civil administration.
“According to our estimates, the Bala Hisar alone can boost KP’s tourism by almost 30 percent,” he told Arab News.
But a senior FC official told Arab News: “There’s sensitive gadgetry related to security that’s inappropriate for public viewership, as the law-and-order situation is already bad in the region.”
Both the civil administration and the FC refrained from officially commenting on the matter.
The fort, which was once used as a royal residence by the Durrani Empire, has housed the FC headquarters since 1948.
Bala Hisar means “elevated” or “high fort” in Dari Persian, and offers a panoramic view of the Peshawar valley. Parts of the fort are open to the public on Saturdays and Sundays.