Thread by @oolabmys

The #Charing Cross landmark in #Lahore has remained the centre point of the city since the #British era and continues to be the better-known venue for political mobilization. In 1904, a grand statue of #Queen Victoria was placed under a canopy and the #monument stood (1/7)

at the crossing until 1951.

The statue was moved to the Lahore #Museum thereafter. In the 1980s, during the ‘Islamist’ regime of #General Zia, a wooden model of the Holy Quran was placed where the statue once stood. Earlier, under the civilian Prime Minister Zulfikar (2/7)

Ali #Bhutto, another modernist tower was erected to mark the 1974-summit conference of the Organisation of Islamic Countries (OIC). The summit monument – as a cultural space – commemorates the ideal of Unity of all Muslims and that of the Ummah – the Muslim Brotherhood (3/7)

– and denotes a new acquired role by post-1971 Pakistan. These design innovations and reworking of the colonial landscape also indicate Pakistan’s official aspirations to be a pure, unifying Muslim nation that follows religious commandments in both its public and (4/7)

international life.

It is not an isolated event that Pakistan’s nuclear bomb has been officially termed the Islamic bomb. Its architects, #Bhutto and General Zia, considered it a means to enhance Pakistan’s place in the world and make it into a leader of the Ummah. (5/7)

Despite its nuclear capability, it is unclear whether Pakistan has ever acquired that mythical position. Internally, the Muslims of Pakistan have been a victim of sectarian militias and since 1979, Pakistan is anything but a symbol of Muslim ‘unity’.

Being Pakistani: (6/7)

Society, Culture and the Arts:
Raza Rumi (7/7)