ISLAMABAD: Behind rows of iron shelves at Pakistan’s National Archives in Islamabad, acid-free boxes hold fragile newspapers, centuries-old manuscripts and personal papers recording the lives and decisions of some of the country’s most influential figures.

Keeping them readable takes more than careful storage. Conservators must remove aging tape, treat acidity and repair tears, sometimes spending days on a single document before it can safely return to the shelves.

The work protects evidence of both Pakistan’s emergence as an independent country in 1947 and the region’s earlier intellectual and cultural history. Alongside its political collections, the repository holds Persian and Arabic manuscripts on subjects including religion, medicine and astronomy, according to its published catalogue. 

“We get documents of different conditions. Some are very brittle. Some have a lot of cellulose tapes on them. We have to remove them. Some are in good condition,” said Muhammad Yusuf Jameel, 29, a preserver who has worked at the National Archives for seven years.

For Jameel, each document presents a different problem. Its paper, ink and previous repairs determine how it can be treated without causing further damage.

“Some documents are in very bad condition. It takes us two to three days to make one document. We can make a normal document in 30 to 60 minutes,” he told Arab News.

Among the records that have passed through the conservators’ hands is a document from Fatima Jinnah’s campaign for the presidency in the 1965 election against military ruler Ayub Khan.

The sister of Pakistan’s founder, Muhammad Ali Jinnah, she became the opposition’s candidate in a contest that challenged military rule and placed a woman at the center of the country’s political debate. 

“Personally speaking, I have never entertained political ambition. I have decided to answer the call and come forward to do my duty. It is my duty to accept the nation’s call. In accepting the presidential nomination, I accept the responsibility that goes with it,” the document reads.

Preserving such records allows researchers to examine political history through the words of those who shaped it.

The repository also holds the Quaid-e-Azam Papers — letters, speeches and other records relating to Muhammad Ali Jinnah — and records of the Muslim League, the political movement that led the campaign for Pakistan’s creation. Its published collection lists include Jinnah papers dating from 1892 to 1948 and the Fatima Jinnah collection covering 1908 to 1967. 

Deputy Director Asim Ali Khokhar said some manuscripts were between 300 and 400 years old. The holdings include Persian and Arabic works, as well as farmans and parwanas, historical decrees and administrative orders.

These older documents offer insight into the region’s languages, societies, culture and administration long before Pakistan’s present borders existed, he said.

REPAIRING THE PAPER, PROTECTING THE RECORD

In the conservation process, damaged documents undergo examination, chemical treatment, deacidification, tissue repair, drying and pressing.

Jameel said the team used tissue imported from Japan and preservation chemicals supplied by a German company.

“When we get the first document, we do a proper examination. If the ink is fading, we fix the ink. We use different chemicals for that. After that, we remove the acidity,” he said.

“After removing the acidity, we place it on a table and apply different tissues,” he added. “When you tear them, there are fibers in them. These fibers hold the documents together… After that, we trim and press it.”

Once treated, individual documents can be bound into volumes. But old attempts to protect or repair paper can complicate the work, particularly when conservators encounter brittle adhesive tape or plastic lamination.

“The most difficult part here is to examine the condition. We have to remove the tapes. There are different types of tapes and adhesives. Removing them is a big challenge,” Jameel said.

Khokhar said more than 6,000 documents had been preserved, although he did not specify the period covered by that figure. He said 1,366 files of the Quaid-e-Azam Papers had been restored, with further material awaiting conservation.

Repair is only part of the task. Without suitable storage, treated documents can deteriorate again.

“Once the document is restored, if the place of storage is good, then you can preserve it for 100 or 200 years,” Khokhar said.

The Archives maintains humidity between 45 and 55 percent and temperatures between 22 and 24 degrees Celsius in its storage areas, he said. Acid-free corrugated boxes, dehumidifiers, humidity-monitoring instruments and air-conditioning systems help protect the collections.

Digitization offers another layer of protection. Researchers can consult digital copies, reducing the need to handle fragile originals.

For Khokhar, however, making a digital copy does not end the responsibility to preserve the document itself.

“Where will we take the original documents? We will lose them. We have to preserve the heritage,” he said.