Seminário CEAS ‘Sacred Heritage’: The Nation and Other Communities in Pakistan’s…

Publicado em: Seminário CEAS ‘Sacred Heritage’: The Nation and Other Communities in Pakistan’s…

Seminário CEAS ‘Sacred Heritage’: The Nation and Other Communities in Pakistan’s Sufi Shrines | 23.04.2024, 11:30-13:30 | Sessão via Zoom (ID 91418812511, password 835119)

In this presentation, the author examines the public debates and legal cases around the partial demolition of the shrine of Mauj Darya due to the construction of Lahore’s first metro train line, showing that the discursive mobilization of ‘heritage’ by activists to resist the shrine’s demolition initially elided religious narratives as it turned towards legal, aesthetic and cultural motifs to underline the ‘heritageness’ of the shrine. However, in order to broaden its public appeal, the category of heritage is expanded to include religious sentiments and associations as central to the sociocultural relevance of these shrines. Importantly though, this turn to religion to define heritage signals important shifts from the earlier discourse of heritage that focused on cultural Islam and the Pakistan identity as it is rooted in an alliance between local religious actors and heritage advocates in the city. The author also examines the contours of this emerging partnership to reflect on the implications of the discourse of heritage in shaping the future of Sufi shrines in Pakistan.

+info: https://cria.org.pt/pt/ceas-religiao-patrimonio