Awar Khan
On the 13th of this month, a video of an old basement discovered during reconstruction in Peshawar went viral on social networking websites. Several assumptions were made by those who visited the site.
Upon closer inspection of the Waziri bricks next to the rubble, a citizen who appeared to be an archaeologist claimed, "There were gold worth crores that the diggers stole and took away in the dark of night."
Meanwhile, a Babaji (an elderly person) sitting on a pile of dirt confidently pointed to a wall and stated, "There was an idol installed in that corner which was removed and sold by the owners of the house."
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Explorers wandered around in search of unknown objects, and the opinion most favored by the people was Babaji's.
Despite the fact that the building was allegedly owned by a Sikh, and Sikhs do not worship idols, people were convinced by Babaji's story due to the expression on his face.
Two experts claimed that the building was five hundred years old and the owner of the house had extracted gold worth crores of rupees from the basement. They also provided information about the punishment for this blatant mistake. However, it was later discovered that these two experts were actually V-loggers.
A journalist pointed out a window found in the rubble and speculated that the building was so old that the basement was connected to other houses by a narrow corridor. However, upon closer inspection, it was revealed that the place they called 'Rahdari' was actually 'Badkhana' (ventilation shaft), which is typically found in the basements of Sethi Houses and other old buildings.
In this small street, many other stories emerged about the basement in question. However, a child disclosed another unpleasant truth that people had stolen wood and other items from the debris, mistakenly believing them to be valuable. The child himself had picked up a piece of wood and sold it for 300 rupees.
Despite the locals' claims that the discovery was not a wonder and that similar architecture could be found in many other houses in the city, the archeology department has been unable to determine the basement's ownership even after five days. The person against whom the application was filed at the Shah Qabool police station has denied ownership.
There are many houses in the city with similar architecture, and locals suggest that whoever owns them should be handed over.
Historians claim that the building is neither 500 years old nor a wonder. While Waziri bricks and other materials were used in the construction, there is no official record of the site.
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18 Apr, 2025