Ancestral Havelis of Raj Kapoor and Dilip Kumar in Pakistan to be turned into museums

The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) government of Pakistan has begun the process of buying the ancestral houses of two Indian film legendary actors and friends Dilip Kumar and Raj Kapoor, in Peshawar. A special section has been enacted by the KP government of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 of the state. This will authorise the government to take possession of both houses on emergency basis. This amount is said to be soon released to the Deputy Commissioner (DC) of Peshawar in order for the payment to the landowners.

Dilip Kumar’s four marla house is fixed at Rs 80.56 lakh (USD 50,517) and Raj Kapoor’s six marla house is priced at 1.50 crore (USD 94,061) by the Archeological Department of Pakistan. According to the Pakistani newspaper The Daily Jung, for a very long time, the owners were in disagreement when it came to selling these homes as the government was not ready to pay the asked price as the owners believed that the properties were in a prime location and they were undervalued.

The person who owns Dilip Kumar’s ancestral home has demanded Rs 25 crore for the property and Raj Kapoor’s Rs 200 crore. But the KP government claimed that the owners were blackmailing the authorities by demanding unimaginably high prices given the importance of these premises. Earlier, the owners were in discussion to tear these homes down to build malls as they were in the prime location but this was stopped as the archaeology department wanted to preserve them.

Abdul Samad, director of archaeology and museums in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, told the Pakistani media last year, “Sometimes professional storytellers held court here, telling tales for the entertainment of the travellers. This is our cultural heritage and we take pride in preserving it. We are very proud that Dilip Kumar and Raj Kapoor were from Peshawar.”

Last year there were also reports that Dilip Kumar’s home will be made into a museum, and his wife Saira Banu took to her Twitter account to thank the KP Government, “I wish the provincial government success in its efforts and sincerely hope that this time the dream comes true. Mashallah. My heart fills up with joy each time I receive the same news about the ancestral home of Yusuf Saheb in Peshawar in North West Frontier province which the provincial government has been repeatedly trying to turn into a monument for posterity.”

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