Liaqat Bagh's signboard goes missing

The massive D-shaped signboard of the historic and famous Liaqat Bagh (formerly known as Company Bagh) disappeared from the main entrance, with potential theft in sight.

Liaquat Bagh, which encapsulates a history of five centuries, has been without its signboard for the past 20 days. There hadn't been any strong wind or storm in the city for the last three months that could have caused it to fall.

The signboard had 'Liaquat Bagh' written in bold letters in both Urdu and English and 'Rawalpindi Development Authority' written underneath it.

The broken spots indicate that the signboard was physically removed at the only entrance of the park. The absence of the signboard from the ancient asset of Rawalpindi for the past three weeks reflects the incompetence and negligence of the RDA.

The historic place in Rawalpindi city has also witnessed incidents of gunfire in the past.

This historic Liaquat Bagh is the site where two Prime Ministers, Liaquat Ali Khan and Benazir Bhutto, were assassinated, and prominent figures such as Quaid-e-Azam, Fatima Jinnah, Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, Farooq Abdullah, Allama Mashriqi, Abdul Rab Nishtar, Maulana Bhashani, Maulana Mufti Mehmood, Maulana Shah Noorani, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, Altaf Hussain, Benazir Bhutto, and Nawaz Sharif addressed public gatherings.

During British rule in the Indo-Pak subcontinent, military parades were held there and it was formally named Company Bagh in 1900. Today, it has transformed into a beautiful recreational park where a good number of men and women come for morning walks and families enjoy the park's beautification throughout the day.

The gatekeeper at this main entrance expressed ignorance about the whereabouts of the signboard. The signboard was present when the gatekeeper finished his evening duty, but he found missing the next morning.

Though the beautification of Liaquat Bagh is the responsibility of the Parks and Horticulture Authority (PHA), their officials remained ignorant.

Sources in the RDA said that a new signboard would be installed during the ongoing week. They, however, were unable to explain the whereabouts of the previous signboard.