As soon as a jewel, at the moment Rawalpindi doesn’t know what it desires to be as a result of it has forgotten what it as soon as was.
Nations corresponding to India and Pakistan have needed to grapple with the twin ambitions of desirous to urbanise their cities whereas additionally wanting to carry onto their wealthy architectural heritage. The advanced historical past of a multi-ethnic nation corresponding to Pakistan has been razed to the bottom to be able to erect soulless towers to switch the colonial monuments which have served as a reminder of our turbulent previous.
Heritage constructing encroached on by native merchants at Jamia masjid street.
Rawalpindi is an instance of a metropolis wrestling with these two seemingly dichotomous goals. On the outskirts of the Rehmanabad Metro station lie some previous homes with massive verandas and an edifice which is nearly harking back to the properties in Downtown Abbey. Erected within the early 1960’s, they adorned the town with their marvellous porticos and the locality got here to be often known as Satellite tv for pc City. In the course of the time that Islamabad was being constructed because the nation’s new capital, Satellite tv for pc City functioned as a diplomatic enclave of types, with many embassies positioned there. The Victorian-style homes had been thus constructed to accommodate international dignitaries residing within the metropolis.
An evening view of Jamia Masjid Rawalpindi which was based in 1905.
Over time, nevertheless, as Islamabad turned the diplomatic hub, Satellite tv for pc City discovered itself shrinking in significance, and the neighbourhood was consumed by a metropolis which was increasing at an unprecedented price. The previous homes of the locality now stand like ghostly relics of the previous.
Chan bazaar, Rawalpindi.
A view of Raja Bazaar street.
In a home on Sadiqabad street lives an previous engineer who has closed the gates of his home, alongside together with his coronary heart, to the surface world. The resident is Afzaal Ahmad, a person who comes from a distinguished household of military personnel. Whereas taking a look at his previous images, Ahmad recounts:
“The Rawalpindi I used to be raised in was a marvel, a picture straight from the British calendars. Clean clear roads, small markets, espresso retailers together with a pleasant guide store (London Books firm), low site visitors and an orderly crowd.”
The primary entrance of the Afzaal Ahmad’s home.
Outdated journal adverts from the gathering of Afzaal Ahmad.
Rawalpindi’s Kashmir Highway within the 1960’s. From the data of Afzaal Ahmad.
The markets on the time had been fairly small and there was just one main street in Saddar on the time, Mall Highway, which catered to everybody’s wants. Ahmad recollects that the well-known street had a hairdresser, a laundry store and few clothes retailers as nicely. He provides:
“I keep in mind most of my classmates in Station faculty had been British or Anglo-Indians. Anglo-Indians had been thought of to be essentially the most educated after the British. I nonetheless keep in mind this one Anglo-Indian site visitors sergeant who used to roam round alone on Murree street. Folks had been so afraid of his self-discipline that they wouldn’t cross the street till he had gone away.”
Yard of the home.
An previous constructing occupied by partition migrants in Saddar.
For Ahmad’s technology, and those which adopted, issues took a downward flip after Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto got here to energy. Fearing the results of nationalisation and rising religiosity, many foreigners fled the nation. The Anglo-Indians too fell prey to this and plenty of migrated to America and Australia. The resultant vacuum gave rise to a brand new rising class of locals who had a special mentality. They had been hungry to tear down the previous to make manner for the brand new.
An previous temple in depressing situation in Moti Bazaar.
A reputation plate exterior a home in Dhakki mohallah, Angat Pura.
Rawalpindi as a metropolis has all the time had a storied history. Punjab has been dominated by Graeco-Bactrian Kings and later by the Sakas, Iranian nomads, and in 1765 Sardar Gujjar Singh managed the realm which is now referred to as Rawalpindi. Town remained beneath Sikh rule until 1849 when it was taken over by the British. Therefore, this land has had many identities, and one can discover linkages to a rare previous by way of the town’s buildings and districts.
A view of Moti bazaar, Rawalpindi.
Regardless of the removing of the Sikh Raj, the Sikh community remained an integral a part of the cultural material of Rawalpindi until 1947. Their remnants are nonetheless seen in Kartarpura, Angatpura, Arjun Nagar, Mukha Singh state, Outdated Banni and adjoining areas. Town was predominantly influenced by Rai Bahadur Sujan Singh whose haveli (home) nonetheless stands within the previous Bhabra Bazaar.
Rawalpindi at one time limit was a jewel, a novel mix of each previous and new structure. Over time, folks which were allotted these vacant properties have broken them attributable to sheer negligence, and at the moment these buildings are however a shadowy reflection of their former glory.
An previous pre-partition haveli in Saidpuri gate attempting to avoid wasting its colours from the wrath of the fashionable age.
A colonial fashion balcony on Faculty Highway, the place well-known Indian actor Balraj Sahini grew up.
Rawalpindi at the moment is a chaotic labyrinth. Constructing legal guidelines and municipal rules are nearly non-existent. Politicians and profit-driven land house owners have given native municipal authorities the approval to demolish heritage buildings and websites. Commercialisation has trumped heritage. Heretics have squashed historical past. Rawalpindi nonetheless has the potential to grow to be the epicentre of regional heritage, however provided that preservation work is begun instantly.
As we speak, the view from the metro bus presents a dark take a look at a frenzied skyline onto a metropolis which doesn’t know what it desires to be as a result of it has forgotten what it as soon as was.
(All pictures by creator)
