A strange, alien place called Pakistan.
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A 1955 bottle of Pakola.
Every Pakistani knows about Pakola Ice-Cream Soda. The bright green coloured
soft-drink that is also hailed (unofficially, though) to be ‘Pakistan’s national
soft-drink.’ But for the first few years Pakola struggled to find a market
for itself that was packed with popular soft-drinks such as Coca-Cola, 7Up and
Bubble-Up. Then in 1955 it even had to print the words ‘Non-Alcoholic’ on its
bottles because thanks to its striking colour, some stores (in Karachi) actually
began storing it alongside their stock of alcoholic beverages! By the 1970s however, Pakola finally
established itself as a popular soft-drink.
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The charismatic Jacqueline
Kennedy, wife of the popular US President, J. F. Kennedy, visited Pakistan in
1962. Here she is seen riding in an open-top limo with the then ruler of
Pakistan, Ayub Khan, in the Saddar area of Karachi jam-packed by young men and
women who had gathered on both sides of the road to greet her.
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Crowds gather at a runaway at
the Karachi Airport to witness a ‘flying parade’ and joint military exercises of
American and Pakistani armed forces (1953).
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A modern ‘rail car’ made
in Pakistan with the collaboration of Japanese engineers parked at
the Lahore Railway Station in 1964. Popular with travelers wanting to move
rapidly between cities, the cars were commissioned out of service in the 1980s.
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The iconic Mausoleum of
Pakistan’s founder, Muhammad Ali Jinnah, under construction in Karachi. This
picture was taken in 1965. The imposing structure was finally completed
almost five years later.
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A 1967 image of the American
Embassy in Karachi. It was one of the most recognisable buildings in Karachi’s
Abdullah Haroon Road
area. Built in 1958, the Embassy, apart from handling the visa issuing
operations, also had a large library.
As can be seen in the picture, it hardly had any barriers or
security and its doors were open to all. However, from the late 1980s
onwards, when fubdamentalis violence began to rise within Pakistan, the Embassy
was fortified by a tall wall.
Later, especially after the tragic 9/11 event and after the
building faced at least three terror attacks in the 2000s, the walls were
thickened, barriers placed and security tightened. The library that was hugely popular
with Karachi’s school and collage students was closed and the visa section was
moved to Islamabad. In
2011, the building was abandoned and the Embassy was moved to a different
location in Karachi. The building still stands, though.
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A scene of a snow-covered
street in Quetta (1968). The street, called Layton Road, today has lost almost
all of the beautiful old trees that can be seen in the picture.
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The first pages of a detailed
book written by a professional travel writer from the United States. The book
was published in early 1962 – a time when various American airlines and
travel writers were heavily promoting Pakistan as a tourist destination. The
image is that of Karachi’s Zoological Garden that was then called the Gandhi
Garden.
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A 1963 brochure printed by
the government of Pakistan. The influx of western tourists arriving in the
country had risen by the time this brochure was published. It contained maps and
names of famous tourist spots, beaches, mountain resorts, hotels, nightclubs and
bars in the country
(both in West and former East Pakistan).
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A 1966 Pakistani press ad
announcing the launch of famous Australian car, Valiant, in Pakistan. It
was one of the first cars to be assembled in Pakistan. –Picture courtesy
DAWN.
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Girls taking part in a
swimming competition at a sports complex in Karachi in 1970.
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VHS cover of Pakistan’s first
horror and ‘X-rated’ film, Zinda Laash (The Living Dead). Released in 1967, the
film was a huge hit in an era when the Pakistan’s film industry was dishing out
an average of 50 films a year, most of them romantic fantasies.
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This poster attacking the
‘imperialist grip of the American CIA’ over various ‘third world countries’
(including Pakistan) began appearing on the walls of colleges and universities
of Karachi and Lahore in 1968. The poster was originally designed in
South America but was reproduced in Pakistan by radical leftist student groups
during their movement against the Ayub Khan dictatorship (1968-69). –Poster
courtesy Rashid Chaudhry.
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Students belonging to the
left-wing National Students Federation campaign during a student union elections
at the Karachi University in 1969. –Picture courtesy: Tarek Fateh.
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The first men on the moon
land in Pakistan. Astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin (the first men to
land on the moon), arrived in Karachi in early 1970 during their tour of South
Asia. Here they are seen being greeted by an enthusiastic crowd just outside the
Karachi Airport. –Picture courtesy LIFE.
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A young Pakistani woman
sitting on her motorbike in the Soldier Bazzar area of Karachi (1969). –Picture
courtesy Zarmeena P.
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The December 1971 cover of
Time magazine. The main story detailed the breaking away of former East Pakistan
(after a bloody civil war with the West Pakistan army). The picture is that of a
Bengali militant.
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A stamp celebrating
Pakistan’s victory in the 1971 Hockey World Cup held in Barcelona,
Spain.
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A serene image of Peshawar’s
famous ‘Kisa Kahani Bazaar’ (Storytellers’ Market) in 1972. A culturally
rich and ancient marketplace, the area has continuously come under terrorist
attacks by Islamist militants ever since the early
2000s.
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A college student poses in
front of a street in Quetta in 1972.Today, Quetta is plagued by brutal violence
involving Sunni sectarian outfits, Baloch nationalist groups and the Pakistan
military.
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A 1972 picture showing
European visitors and local Christians seen during a passing out ceremony at a
Catholic school in Rawalpindi. –Picture courtesy John
Meacham.
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A young 8-year-old Shahrukh
Khan (current Bollywood star) visited Pakistan with his family (as a tourist) in
1973. Here he is seen during his family’s visit to Swat. –Picture courtesy
Luqman Ghauri.
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A 1974 photograph showing the
inside of a ‘hashish house’ in Quetta.
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A poster of 1973 film
‘Operation Pakistan.’ A B-grade film made by a Greek director, the film was
released in Pakistan in 1973. It is about the adventures of an FBI agent who
tracks down hashish smugglers in Turkey, Iran and Pakistan. The characters of
Pakistanis (seen below left) were all played by amateur Pakistani actors. The
film was a box-office flop.
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An early 1970s press ad of
Pakistan International Airlines (PIA). PIA was considered to be one of the ten
best airlines the world between 1962 and 1980. It constantly scored high for having
‘best in-flight entertainment,’ business class, ‘most convenient connections’,
‘delicious cuisine’ and ‘a wide selection of alcoholic drinks’
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A 1973 press ad of the famous
Hotel Midway House in Karachi. The hotel was owned and run by PIA. It was
located near the Karachi Airport and was popular with tourists and locals alike
for its barbeque restaurant and nightclub. It was eventually closed down in the
mid-1980s.
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A 1974 T-Shirt.
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Tourism in Pakistan grew
two-fold in the 1970s. This special stamp was issuedby the country’s Ministry of
Tourism in 1975.
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A Swiss tourist gets his
car’s tank filled at a gas station on the Pakistan-Afghanistan border (1974).
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A European tourist with two
students of the Peshawar University in an old street of Peshawar (1974).
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A European tourist family
outside a rest house in Murree, 1974.
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Tourists enjoy a buggy ride
outside Peshawar’s Hotel Intercontinental (1975).
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Pakistani actress and model,
Bindia, at a cultural festival in Karachi (1975).
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Famous revolutionary poet,
late Habib Jalib, enjoys a drink with veteran journalist, late Khalid Hassan,
and friends at a restaurant in Karachi in 1975.
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Western tourists jam with a
Pakistani tabla player in Karachi (1975).
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Pakistani test cricketers
Sikandar Bakht and Javed Miandad in 1976.
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A 1978 French release of an
album by famous Pakistani Qawali group, the Sabri Brothers.
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Cover of a live album by
popular Indian ghazal duo, Jagjit and Chitra. The album was recording during one
of the many live concerts the duo played during their tour of Pakistan in 1978.
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Altaf Gohar and Khalid Hassan
with Noble Prize winning Pakistani scientist, Dr. Abdus Salam (centre) in the
late 1970s.
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1977 cover of famous
Pakistani Urdu magazine, Dhanak. Radical in its aesthetics, the magazine was
hugely popular with young men and women. It covered fashion trends, ran film
reviews and also had left-leaning articles on politics. A number of noted
progressive Urdu intellectuals such as Faiz Ahmed Faiz, Munir Niazi, Mumtaz
Mufti, etc., wrote regularly for Dhanak. It was edited and published by
Sarwar Sukhera. In 1979 it became the first publication to be directly clamped
down by the reactionary Ziaul Haq dictatorship that took over power through a
military coup in July 1977.
Deemed as ‘anti-Islam’ by the Zia regime, Dhanak offices were
attacked by Jamat-e-Islami goons and Sarwar was arrested for committing
‘treason’. Sarwar went
into exile after the magazine was shut down. –Picture courtesy: Laleen Khan.
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A promotional shot of famous
PTV play, Uncle Urfi (1975). It was one of the first PTV serials that is said to
have ‘made roads empty of cars and people’ during the time of its telecast (8 PM
every Saturday).
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A group of European tourists
travelling and enjoying a cup of tea on a Pakistani train, 1976.
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A German tourist outside a ‘
hashish shop’ in the tribal areas of former NWFP (now Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), 1976.
With the state of Pakistan having little influence in such areas, shops selling
hashish sprang up when young western tourists began to pour into Pakistan from
Afghanistan from the late 1960s onwards. (See also ‘Hippie Trail’ in
Also-Pakistan I, II and III).
Today however, these areas are strictly off-limits not only to
foreigners but also Pakistanis due to the war between Islamist insurgents and
the Pakistan military.The fate of the shops is unknown.
- Picture courtesy Dan
Atkinson
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A special stamp released by
the government of Pakistan to mark the centenaryof St. Patrick’s Cathedral in
Karachi (1978).
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Before the great Janagir Khan
and Jansher Khan in squash there was Qamar Zaman. Here he is seen arguing with
the umpire while on his way to beat the then No: 1, the Australian, Jeff Hunt,
during a final played in Karachi in 1976.
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An American Christian
evangelist addressing Pakistani Christians and converts in a village near
Abbotabad in 1977. -Picture courtesy Williamson
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Pakistani star batsman, Javed
Miandad, smashes the stumps after being givenout LBW in a test match against
India (1979).
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Imran Khan was one of
the first Pakistani cricketers to appear in press ads and TV commercials. Here
he is seen with Indian batsman, Sunil Gavaskar, in a1979 ad for Indian
soft-drink, Thumbs-up.
