Rawalpindi: From quiet city to crowded metropolis

Not so long ago, Rawalpindi, one of the key districts in Punjab, used to be a small and very quiet city. Until the 1980s, the city would start from Murrir Chowk and end at Sixth Road, with no traffic chaos and a poor state of sanitation.

Trees and plants were common in almost every small and large residential property and there was no shortage of water in the city due to abundant underground water reserves.

Almost every second and third house had a well and every neighbourhood had a large well from which a water carrier -- called mashki -- fetched water to houses in leather muskets. One such huge well was 'Chah Sultan' due to which the whole area became famous as 'Sultan Da Khoh'.

Fresh vegetables used to be a speciality of Rawalpindi as from the suburbs of Khanna and Tarlai, fresh stocks would arrive at downtown through bullock carts in early hours. Agriculture fields used to exist between today's Shamsabad and Faizabad, but many of today's crowded areas like Chaklala Housing Scheme, Muslim Town and Airport Housing Society etc did not exist. All these fields were agricultural areas.

The city's main bus stand used to be Liaquat Bagh, which was shifted to Pirwadhai in 1976/1977. Buses would ply to different cities and towns from Liaquat Bagh. Murree Road was the city's main highway, which was probably renamed Muhammad Reza Shah Pahlavi Road after the Shah of Iran in 1976. There used to be plants in the middle of the road on which seasonal flowers bloomed.

Once, there used to be a Chandni Chowk in Rawalpindi and a round named 'Chaman' in the centre of the square. On the road leading from the square to the Commercial Market, they used to sell very tasty 'dahi bhalle'.

The Commercial Market would be a small market with open exits and wide roads. These porches are still there but filled with encroachments. The entire area between Chandni Chowk and the Commercial Market was a hub of tall trees, lush green flowers and plants. Thus, Chandi Chowk used to be a pleasant walk to the Commercial Market.

There were no rickshaws in Rawalpindi and 'Tonga' was a popular common ride. Rich people preferred the black-yellow Morse taxi, but the only way to get around the city was by Tonga. Fawara Chowk, Committee Chowk, Chowk Chah Sultan and Bani Chowk, which is now probably called Sunny Chowk, had big Tonga stands. There used to be cisterns for watering horses here.

The public transport from Gujjar Khan, Kallar Syedan, Kahota and Murree used to be just a special bus with a body manufactured in what was called a daddu body (frog body). The bus was decorated very beautifully. Sitting on the front seat of this bus was also considered a big honour among the citizens. But now the old-fashioned bus is obsolete like the use of Tonga.

Except for a few areas, the city used to be deserted after Isha prayer and it was not customary to eat outside the house. At night, if citizens desired to eat and drink, a popular dairy shop at Committee Chowk welcomed them. Tikke and kebab shops on College Road and in Bani Mohalla were open till late at night. But they were considered unwelcoming because it was believed that only vagabonds visited these places late at night.

There was a direct road from Faizabad to the airport from Islamabad, but most of the people used to go to the airport from Murree Road via Chah Sultan Chowk. In the past, then-Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto used the road many times from and to the airport. In those days, cities were not blocked off for VIP traffic. The political leadership of the city was highly educated and eminent personalities like Khurshid Hassan Mir, Javed Hakeem Qureshi, Sheikh Rashid Advocate and Raja Anwar.

Many important academic and literary names of the country were residents of Rawalpindi. For example, Shafiqur Rehman, Mumtaz Mufti, Syed Zameer Jafri, Colonel Muhammad Khan, Anwar Masood and Aziz Malik. Rather, if compiled, this list will be very long.

The city had many sports grounds and gardens. There were three major grounds on Murree Road, Central Hospital Ground, Shabistan Cinema and Liaquat Bagh Ground, and every residential area had some sort of ground or park. Alas, all these grounds and gardens have fallen victim to encroachments and haphazard developments.

Being the headquarters of the British Indian Army's Northern Subcontinent Command, Rawalpindi was important even before independence. The cantonment area beyond Murir Chowk used to be lush, quiet and extremely clean. The architecture of the cantonment was prominent in Victorian and British Raj architecture.

Historically, Rawalpindi was a city of Hindus and Sikhs. Almost all the ancient residential areas like Kartapura, Angatpura, Bagh Sardaran, Amarpura, Mohanpura, Arya Mohalla and Chittian Hattian were inhabited by Hindus and Sikhs. Most of the merchants and traders of the city were Hindus or Sikhs.

By the way, the beauty of the old city has deteriorated, but there are still many old houses and beautiful historical buildings. These are the historical heritages of the city which need to be preserved. Who will do it is a million-dollar question as these are not from ancient times. All those who have seen the Rawalpindi of the 50s and 60s will not forget where everyone knew each other. Everyone will remember how Rawalpindi used to be and see what it has become.

But those areas of Rawalpindi which are proudly called by English names still exist and have become very densely populated. They are Left Town (Dhok Khaba), Red Town (Dhok Ratta), Flag Finger (Jhanda Chichi), Zig Zag Hole (Dingi Khoi), Red Shirt (Lal Kurti) and Poor Land (Gharibabad).