Historical indus queen

Indus Queen is over a century-old historic ship. Authorities have docked this ship on the bank of the Indus River in Kot Mithan tehsil of Rajanpur district. It is decaying rapidly due to negligence by the authorities concerned. The government announced plans to restore the Indus Queen to its original state many times. However, they have never completed the process.

The Indus Queen is an over-a-century-old small ship. The authorities once used it to commute Zaireen between Kot Mithan and Chachraan Sharif. The ship sailed through the mighty River Indus. It has been facing decay for a long and is docked at the bank of the River Indus. Authorities docked the ship after it caught fire in 1992.

Recently, there has been opposition to a proposal to shift the decaying skeleton of the historical Indus Queen. The proposal advised moving it from Kot Mithan to the Bahawalpur Museum for its rehabilitation and exhibition. Khwaja Mueenuddin Mehbub Koreja, the custodian of Darbar Faridia, Kot Mithan, has opposed the proposal. He claims that the wreckage of the Indus Queen presently is attached with the name of Khawaja Ghulam Farid and it is a historical heritage of Chachran and Kot Mithan Sharif. He was of the opinion that after necessary repair and restoration, the Indus Queen should be exhibited at Khawaja Farid Museum at Kot Mithan.

The newly-constituted board of governors (BoG) of the Bahawalpur Museum at a recent meeting chaired by Bahawalpur Commissioner Raja Jahangir Anwar decided to shift the wreckage of Indus Queen from Kot Mithan to the museum for its restoration and exhibition for visitors on museum premises. Presently, a special committee is working on the matter.

Thomas Reid and Sons built the Ship on the request of Nawab of Bahawalpur Sadiq Muhammad Khan Abbasi-IV in 1867 in Paisley, Scotland. The Nawab used it for transportation of the royal family when the river Sutlej was running in full flow near the city. Initially, it got the name Sutlej Queen. The three-story steamer had separate male and female sections and could accommodate 400 guests.

After the Partition in 1947 and the later signing of the Indus Waters Treaty during Gen Ayub Khan’s regime, Sutlej started drying due to water shortage, and the late Sadiq Abbasi-V shifted ship to the river Indus and renamed it Indus Queen. He dedicated it to the service of devotees of Khawaja Ghulam Farid for their transportation from Kot Mithan to Chachran Sharif.

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