By Munir Ahmed
Islamabad’s past has always been nostalgia for those who have seen this region’s old landscape and culture. Arif Jafri is one of them.
Jafri worked in various capacities before he retired from government service as director general, Pakistan National Council of the Arts (PNCA). His forte is music and film. He knows these two subjects very well -- the content, techniques and history. He quotes from the legends in the sub-continent to world-renowned figures in music and film. For the last one year, he is working on a Unesco project to archive Pakistani music and musicians.
He says, “No sane efforts are seen to particularly document the federal capital’s history. At the end, this city may be a dump of office files and there may be nothing for the coming generations to know about the cultural past of this region. Perhaps, there will be nothing from the cultural past of this city for the next generations to live in the federal capital.
“Over 1000 villages were demolished to establish a new federal capital -- Islamabad as announced by Field Marshal Ayub Khan in 1960. He wanted a tunnel through the Margalla Hills to connect the new capital to his native town Haripur, Abbottabad. But, the architects advised him not to go for it due to the fragile eco-system and geographic unsuitability. According to the 1954 report of the Survey of Pakistan, there were 412 natural streams. You can well-imagine how rich the eco-system was.
“A competition was announced to name the city. Only 10 were selected for naming the city as Islamabad. The prize money of Rs 10,000 was equally divided among them. Then, there was a city with the same name in the Indian-held Kashmir, which is now known as Anant Naag. President Ayub Khan was the chairman of the Cabinet Committee to look after the emergence of the new federal capital.
“Yahya Khan was appointed as the first chairman of Islamabad after his promotion as the Major General in 1961. Raja Allahdad, the father of our renowned artist Raja Changes Sultan, was the only opposition member in the then West Pakistan Assembly. He was also the chief of the Shakarparian village, the biggest of all villages. The other two big villages were Golra and Bari Imam. Only these three villages had police stations.
“Raja Allahdad was the only opposition to the new federal capital too. His was the first village demolished to establish the chairman of the Islamabad’s camp office. As many as five people lost their lives during the demolition of the Shakarparian village that was spread over 470 acres. No compensation was paid to him.
“Raja Allahdad was very humane. For the convenience of travellers, he had established a saraey that was known as Raja kisaraey. It was exactly at the place where presently the building of the Federal Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education is. It was the terminal for the buses arrived from Muzaffarabad (AJK) and Murree. Free night stay and meal were served to strangers.
“With the technical and financial support from the German government, the first small dam was built in the Shakarparian area next to the Lotus Lake behind the Lok Virsa. Some remains of the dam still exist. The second dam was built after demolishing the Rawal village, currently known as Rawal Dam. The ancestors of Naseem Hijazi, known for his historic novels, and the in-laws of the former Chief Justice Muhammad Rustam Kiyani were from the Rawal village.”
“On August 14, 1964, first train arrived from Karachi with civil servants who were accommodated in the residences built in Sector G-6. Some of the Pakistan Secretariat has been developed by then. And, finally, the new federal capital started functioning.”
Published in daily Dateline Islamabad, December 25, 2011
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