Islamabad, July 13 (IANS): Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has declared as national heritage the ancestral home in Peshawar of Hindi moviedom's thespian actor Dilip Kumar. He has directed the ministry of information, broadcasting and national heritage to acquire the house.
The prime minister's approval was sent to the information ministry, which has forwarded it to director general, Pakistan National Council of Arts (PNCA) for implementation of the orders, reported Pakistani daily The Nation.
Well-placed sources at the PM House informed that chief secretary, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa forwarded a summary to the federal government, requesting that it should take steps for acquiring Dilip Kumar's home and to declare it as national heritage. They said the project would play an important role in bringing the people of Pakistan and India closer.
The prime minister approved the summary and sent it to information ministry on Thursday and ministry marked it to DG PNCA on Friday and instructed him to start work on it.
Sources said Nawaz Sharif was eager to promote the cultural relations between India and Pakistan and also met representatives of Indian film industry during his last visit to India.
After acquiring Dilip Kumar's home, the government is planning to convert it into a museum. The sources said that the PM had ordered the authorities concerned to complete the task as soon as possible.
The government is planning to invite Dilip Kumar and other members of his family after converting the house into a museum.
The Nation cited PNCA's acting director general Mashood Mirza as confirming that the council has received the summary from the ministry with the instruction to implement it as soon as possible.
According to the orders, the PNCA would take the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government on board to acquire the ancestral home of the great actor situated in Peshawar.
Mirza said that a special meeting would be held on Monday to review all aspects to develop the great actor's five-storied house, located in Pesawar's famous area Qisa Khawani Bazaar. Presently in a shabby condition, it is being illegally occupied by someone, who claims to be a relative of Dilip Kumar, but is actually not.
Mashood said that as per the directions of the PM, the PNCA would reconstruct the house keeping in view the stature of Dilip Kumar, who has fans all over the world.
Dilip Kumar was born Yusuf Khan. His father Lala Ghulam Sarwar had shifted to Mumbai from Peshawar in the 1930s.
One of the best performers on the silver screen, Dilip Kumar, 91, was active in front of the camera for six decades and worked in much appreciated films like "Jwar Bhata" "Mela", "Naya Daur", "Tarana", "Devdas", "Ganga Jamuna", "Leader", "Mughal-E-Azam", "Shakti", "Karma" and "Saudagar".
His last film was the 1998 release "Qila".