Fall of the ‘Shaheen’
Tuesday, January 15, 2008

By Imran Naeem Ahmad

ISLAMABAD: A replica of Shaheen Missile that many people claimed was an eyesore that did not fit into Islamabad’s scheme of things has finally been removed from an intersection where it stood for years.

The intersection just outside Pakistan Air Force (PAF) Complex had come to be known as “Shaheen Chowk” after the missile was put up atop a cemented structure.

At the time of its installation and that of Ghauri Missile’s at F-10 Roundabout, residents were angered. They held that the monstrous structures gave the town the look of a military cantonment.

However, to the pleasant surprise of the people, Shaheen went down on Sunday, a worker at the site said. “It has been sent back to the relevant authorities for it had become a thing of the past,” he remarked, adding that Pakistan had made several new advancements since that missile was put together.

Landscaping is now being done at the spot and motorists passing by cannot help noticing that the missile is gone. It was not immediately clear if it would be replaced by something. Tractors levelling the ground have been at work at the site that is located next to where the 9th Avenue starts at the Margalla Hills’ end.

The Shaheen becomes the second ‘symbol of pride’ to be taken off after Ghauri, which was replaced by another eyesore some years ago – a concrete fountain tower built by a private bank.

Motorists claim that the tower around the fountain blocked the view from all sides and was more of a hazard. “Whosoever built it surely lacks aesthetic sense,” said a resident Farooq Baig.

The Capital Development Authority (CDA) officials are reluctant to comment on such eyesores that have been allowed to go ahead. CDA Director Parks Malik Abid said that the F-10 fountain was not in his domain.

Elsewhere, another replica of Ghauri, smeared in dirt continues to stand along the Islamabad Highway, as does another blot on the face of the town - the Monument of Chagi Mountain next to Faizabad Flyover commemorating Pakistan’s 1998 nuclear tests.

As the town grows, such symbols and structures that keep coming up here and there seem smear the face of Islamabad. Today, there is perhaps not a single building in Blue Area that could stand out as a brilliant piece of architecture.

Decades ago when one of the first buildings came up in Blue Area it was quickly labeled the “manhole plaza” by residents because of its huge gaping windows. Now there is a seemingly endless row of such concrete structures.

One resident pointed out that Islamabad needs greenery more than anything else. “Making new buildings and roads is all very well but the green cover is what has always been this town’s identity and it should continue to be so,” said a student Mina Khan.

Fauzia Minallah, a leading campaigner for the protection of trees lamented the unnecessary felling. “We know that Islamabad is evolving and we know too that road networks are important but there are some areas where trees and greenery should be protected at all cost,” she said.


Daily Times

The point of putting up missiles was hardly because of arcitectchural reasons, it was purely propaganda and moralle purposes.

When these were put up, the country had nothing to cheer, a poor economy etc, we know how it was.

The nukes and missiles were a symbol of pride for us, in the late nineties early 2000, they were moralle boosting symbols, not eyesores as the arty farty types might describe them today.

It's 2008, they'er just another weapon in our inventory now, thus they are removed as they are no longer significant as smbols of pride as we have so much more to be proud of. In 2001 JF-17 was a pipe dream and people laghed you Pak1's will never make it, today it's as good as in service and the next model will be looking to be better than the F16's we are buying. That is one of many symbols of pride. We have development, jobs, food, a good economy a future.

The title of the article should be Launch of Pakistan not fall of shaheen.

I'd rather see a iron mock-up of JF-17 equipped with Ra'ad & two 5th-gen WVRAAMs...make it look elegant and deadly...and under it engrave the Quaid's words.

Amen to that Mark.

But these replicas were never really maintained to begin with,

Doesn't have to be real size...I think a smaller, iron-bronze mock-up of an armed JF-17 with the Quaid's words about PAF engraved would be great.

1) It is a solid symbol of pride in technology, power and industrialization.
2) It represents the beginning of PAF's path to become "2nd to none" in many areas.
3) It WILL look cool and slick...not out of place as a ballistic missile.
4) Engrave a symbolic number on the tail...like "19471408"
5) ...and mark it as a memorial to the nation's sacrifices for national goals...esp. at war.

agreed. and then especially for the uneducated class these things hold alot of value in terms of being morale boosters. But i guess its sensitive technology a tthis stage and you wouldnt want to put a full sclae mock up for anyone to come up and study the possible weaknessses.

It just has to be as big as a peddle bike.

Our missles should not be for display they should be for using on enemys.