Litmus test: Park soaked with ‘blue blood’ disappearing before our eyes

A witness to history, parkland encroached from all sides; no funds to maintain it.

RAWALPINDI:

Historians do not have monopoly over history, for the bricks in a building or the trees lining a road can also be witness to history and can speak, in their own way, to those who know how to hear them.

Until the time the presidency and other important state functions based in Rawalpindi were shifted to Islamabad, Murree Road --- now Benazir Bhutto Road --- was witness to many important happenings that shaped the destiny of this country.

Liaquat Bagh, a sprawling public park located on the same road, was the first-choice venue for politicians and singers from before the creation of Pakistan till recent times. Whether it was Alam Lohar, leaders from the Indian National Congress and the All-India Muslim league, or later, the prime minsters (PMs) of Pakistan, all would make it a point had to speak from a stage set in the park.

For two PMs including the one for whom it is named, speeches at the venue proved to be their swansongs.

To be called an ‘A-list’ politician, the ability to pull a huge crowd to the ground was always a necessity. But not anymore.

The last rally of note at the park was probably Benzair Bhutto’s 2008 address, which was met with loud cheers and thundering applause. But less than an hour after that speech ended, the former prime minister had been assassinated.

Murree Road has always been bustling and congested. But now, the park has been gobbled up from all four corners by local businesses and encroachers.

The authority responsible for maintaining the park seems to lack both resources and interest.

Visitor numbers at the park have dwindled, and even the trees which were witness to history and the histrionics of some politicians have been turned into firewood and furniture.

The broken fences, benches, dustbins and lights along a withered tree line and dried patches of grass speak of the authority’s apathy.

The stationary arms of a dysfunctional clock in the park reflect the state of the park, and its few remaining ‘regulars’, a disproportionate number of whom are only there to smoke, snort, gulp or inject their personal poison.

Known as Company Bagh before 1951, it is now home to addicts and encroachers. Pungent odours reek, and lawns are littered with leftovers from picnickers lacking any civic conscience and other ‘gifts’ from two and four-legged visitors.

“The purpose of parks is to provide healthy environment for citizens,” said Zahoor Ahmad, a resident of Raja Bazaar. “But it is fast deteriorating due to negligence and encroachments.” The Rawalpindi Development Authority (RDA) revamped the park in 2005 with the plantation of trees, flowers and saplings, installation of lights and construction of a canteen and a fountain.

No traces of those developments remain. The trees have either died or were uprooted. The canteen and fountain are both dysfunctional, and while a few visitors do come to the park during the day, in the absence of light, no one visits after dusk for the fear of being robbed or worse.

“Past sunset, you will only find drug addicts, gamblers, or homeless people who have no place to stay,” said 40-year-old Asif Bhatti, a resident of Dhok Chiragdin.

One corner of the park has been encroached upon by a mosque --- while another has been turned into a dumping ground for scrapped billboards, hoardings, and broken benches. The Express Tribune also learnt that the model bazaar adjacent to the park has also been constructed on an area originally belonging to the park.

Punjab Horticulture Authority Deputy Director Sheikh Tariq said the installed lights were stolen during political gatherings and that the department did not have funds to look after the park.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 27^th, 2013.