Lahore’s Historic Tree From British Era Protected by Maulana Abbas Secretly Cut Down

In a devastating blow to the historical significance of Lahore’s Government Associates College on Lake Road, a banyan (bargad) tree estimated to be nearly eight decades old was reportedly chopped down on Saturday.

The tree, named Allah Rakha, among several others on the campus, held deep roots in the local community and was steeped in tradition.

According to locals, the banyan tree was named by Maulana Abdul Haq Abbas, founder of Anjuman Madrasatul Banat. The organization has managed several educational institutions dating back to the pre-partition era and was established when Abbas relocated to the area from Jalandhar in August 1947.

Dr. Amin Khan, President of the Anjuman and Maulana’s grandson shared that the tree held significant value to the community.

He revealed that Maulana Abbas discovered the tree as a small sapling and worked with students to restore and protect it, even building a brick fence around it.

The tree not only survived but flourished, growing to a girth of over three meters and providing shelter to 350 house sparrows, as well as students during the summer months.

The loss of the banyan tree is a somber reminder of the destruction of the past and serves as a call to preserve and cherish the remaining remnants of our heritage.

People in the area claim that the college principal secretly sold the tree on Saturday as it was a holiday and no one was there to prevent its chopping. They protested and managed to save just one branch of the tree.

The administrator of Anjuman Madrasatul Banat, Ilyas Shah, has also filed a case, contending that the college has no authority to modify the campus because it is owned by the Supreme Court.


  • This is really sad news. In this age when great awareness about the dangers of deforestation has been aroused and tree cutting is illegal, how could someone get away with this heinous crime?

    • Shahida, they are getting away with it on daily basis in Karachi. They have cut down and have stolen thousands of trees under the supervision of government. Even on Shahrah-e-Faisal and other major roads they cut trees and steel timber every day.

  • They should be ashamed of themselves for going ahead and selling the tree & eventually having it chopped off.

  • Not even trees are left in peace… Losing our morals day by day as Nation.. where are we heading.. moreover this action done by a College principal? They say it was all green and alive..?

  • If it is true that the college principal did this then he should be arrested and imprisoned for rest of his life.

  • In mid 70s, ! lived in Abu Dhabi on a street which was not paved and when work began the one lone tree was spared and since then till now the tree has survived. Hats off to all the people who continued with the development work, that tree still remains!

  • Whoever authorized uprooting the tree, has set a bad example. While planet of Earth striving to offset climate change and focussing on enhancing the number of trees by billions, uprooting a tree is no less than a crime. This crime portrays another severance when the tree holds a historical significance.
    Apart from corrective action against responsible, we need legislation to prevent our historical land marks and a separate legislation to protect all the trees.

  • It is not enough to call it just the cutting of a tree, but it is the brutal killing of such an innocent and speechless creature who faced all kinds of situations and events alone but fell victim to the greed, selfishness and egoism of a human being


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