What happens to the Sky-line of historical Hazratganj?

Lucknow, Sep 3 (UNI) Will the mouth-watering 'basket chat', a lukhnowi speciality, continue to provide culinary delight. Will the glittering showrooms and cosy restaurants in upmarket Hazratganj remain there? Will the 'Ganjing', the most famous leisure evening walk down the Hazratganj market, be the same again? These questions are hovering on the minds of prominent traders of this traditional place as much as the lakhs of citizens for whom the Hazratganj has become a symbol of regality and pride.

The situation has arisen due to Supreme Court's verdict on a 32-year-old case in favour of former Raja of Mehmoodabad who will now get back his huge properties spread over the state capital of Lucknow, adjacent districts of Sitapur, Barabanki, Lakhimpur Kheri and Nainital in Uttarakhand.

The court has given time till tomorrow to vacate all this property and hand it over to former Raja of Memoodabad.

An alumnus of Oxford and Cambridge universities, Raja Amir Mohammad Khan, the king of earstwhile Mehmoodabad estate situated about 60 kms from here, won the long drawn court battle after his father had migrated to Pakistan and his property was declared 'enemy property'.

The then Raja of Mehmoodabad left the country for Pakistan in 1957 but his wife and only son Amir Mohammad Khan stayed back as Indian citizens. In 1965, their property was seized by the government and was declared as 'enemy property'.

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