Corruption charges mar handicraft show
Daily Times
By Shoaib Ahmed
LAHORE: Punjab Craft Council (PCC) Curator Mian Atiq Ahmed and Punjab Council of Arts (PCA) Executive Director Ghulam Mustafa have levelled charges of corruption against each other during the ongoing Punjab Artisans Exhibition at Tollinton Market.
The exhibition became controversial after the two Punjab government employees’ allegations against each other.
Atiq Ahmed said he was not told about the exhibition although he was the PCC curator and accused Ghulam Mustafa of inappropriate use of Rs 280,000 from the PCC fund. He said artisans had only been invited from Multan and Sargodha and not from all over the province.
Ghulam Mustafa reacted to the allegations by calling Atiq Ahmed corrupt and said less than Rs 200,000 had been spent on the exhibition. He said Atiq Ahmed had been expelled from Lahore Museum and Punjab Culture Minister’s office for corruption and he still owed Rs 20,000 to a vendor in an artisans’ workshop held a year and a half ago. He admitted that artisans from all over Punjab could not be invited, but a Rawalpindi artisan was also coming to the exhibition. He said artisans were hesitant to participate because they did not have a pleasant experience with Atiq Ahmed during the workshop. “I shall ask the Culture Secretary to look into the matter,†he said. Ghulam Mustafa said artisans were earning money in the exhibition and they were being provided lodging and a Rs 200 allowance every day. He said the PCA was given the exhibition project without informing the PCC Curator because it was working well.
Culture Secretary Taimur Azmat Osman, who saw the exhibition on Wednesday, said the organisers’ effort was a good one and the venue they chose was excellent. He said the Punjab government was now planning to hold city-based exhibitions to highlight the heritage of various areas in Punjab. The artisans’ exhibition features various stalls with camel skin table lamps, ivory jewellery, glasswork products and hand-painted decoration pieces.