Also Pakistan – III
This is the third in our ‘Also Pakistan’ series, following Also Pakistan – I and Also Pakistan – II.
There is very little memory left of a Pakistan that today almost seems like an alien planet compared to what it has been ever since the mid-1980s.
Here, I shall once again share with you some interesting photographs that I have managed to gather in the last couple of years of that alien country.
A place that was also called Pakistan.
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Astronaut of NASA’s Apollo 17 and his wife wave to fans on their arrival at Lahore Airport (1973).
A scene from Hollywood blockbuster ‘Bhowani Junction’ being shot outside a Lahore police station.
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A couple swings into action at a New Year’s party at a nightclub at Karachi’s Hotel Metropole (1957).
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A newspaper clipping (from Pakistan’s daily, ‘Morning News’) with a report on how Pakistani pop fans gate-crashed their way into a bar at the Karachi Airport where the famous pop band The Beatles were having a drink. They had arrived in Karachi (1963) to get a connecting flight to Hong Kong. Between the 1960s and late 1970s the Karachi Airport was one of the busiest in the region. (Picture Courtesy: Sami Shah).
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Western tourists sunbathing on a Karachi beach (early 1960s).
A group of American tourists on a ‘crabbing trip’ in Karachi. ‘Crabbing’ (catching crabs) was a thriving tourist activity in Karachi where tourists would rent boats from the coastal Kimari area of the city and ‘go crabbing.’ The boats mostly belonged to men belonging to the ‘Afro-Pakistani’ community in Karachi and some of them had small barbecue kitchens and bars fitted in the boats. The boats are still there, but not the tourists.
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The Queen of England (Elizabeth II) meeting a welcoming committee during her visit to Karachi in 1961. She also toured many parts of the city with the then ruler of Pakistan, Field Martial Ayub Khan in an open-top limousine.
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Students sympathetic to the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and the left-wing National Students Federation (NSF) clash with the police and pro-government students in Karachi (1969). The student and labour movement between 1967 and 1968 had already toppled the dictatorship of Ayub Khan.
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Plainclothes cops nab a radical Pushtun nationalist student who was accused of firing shots from a concealed gun at Ayub Khan at a pro-Ayub rally in Peshawar (late 1968).
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A press ad in a Pakistani magazine announcing the launch of Canadian Club Whiskey in Pakistan (early 1960s). The whiskey was first made available at Karachi’s horse racing and polo club (Race Course) and then introduced in the city’s many bars.
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A West Pakistani clashes with an East Pakistani Bengali in Dhaka (1970).
Militant Bengali nationalists (Mukti Bhaini) aim at West Pakistan troops during the 1971 Civil War between West Pakistani military and East Pakistan nationalists. The Bengali nationalists picked up arms against the Pakistan military after accusing it of committing large scale massacres against Bengalis. Backed by India, the rebels defeated the West Pakistan military and East Pakistan became Bangladesh.
East Pakistani women march with guns on the streets of Dhaka in a show of defiance against the West Pakistan military establishment (1971).
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An early poster advertising the Pakistani beer brand Murree’s first launch of ‘light beers.’
Pakistani men take an adventurous ride on an Afghan taxi (1972). Every day thousands of Pakistanis crossed into Afghanistan for trade on such taxis. Many would also visit Kabul to watch latest Indian films in Kabul cinemas then return to Pakistan in the evening.
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A group of hippies (British, French and American) wait for a bus in Lahore (1972). Pakistan was an important destination on what was called the ‘Hippie Trail.’
The trail was used by thousands of young European and American backpackers between the late 1960s and 1979. It was an overland route that began in Turkey, ran through Iran, curved into Afghanistan and Pakistan and then from India ended in Nepal.
A huge tourist industry sprang up in these countries to accommodate the backpackers. In Pakistan, the travelers entered Peshawar (from Jalalabad in Afghanistan). From Peshawar they went to Lahore. Some took a bus into India while others visited Karachi and Swat before returning to Lahore and crossed into India.
The trail closed after the 1979 Islamic Revolution in Iran; the beginning of civil war in Afghanistan; and due to the reactionary nature of the Ziaul Haq dictatorship that came to power in Pakistan in 1977.
A 1973 tourism brochure printed by the Pakistan Ministry of Tourism. The brochure had details of hotels, restaurants, bars and tourist spots that had sprung up on the Hippie Trail.
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A tourism bus operated by Pakistan’s Ministry of Tourism taking western tourists on a sight-seeing ride in Karachi (1974). Such buses were decorated keeping in mind the time’s ‘hippie aesthetics.’
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A 1968 shot of a famous Karachi cinema, Taj Mahal. It was one of the many that operated during the heydays of Pakistan’s film industry.
Between 1965 and 1977, the industry produced dozens of films every month. The trend hit a peak in 1975 when a total number of 114 Urdu films were released that year.
The industry began to wither away from the late 1970s due to the arrival of a reactionary dictatorship and then the growing popularity of the VCR.
Today the Pakistan film industry that was one of the most lucrative show-biz ventures in the country in the 1960s and 1970s is as good as dead.
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A classic early 1970s hand-painted billboard of actor and martial arts expert, Bruce Lee.
This particular billboard was painted in Lahore and was used to advertise Lee’s 1973 blockbuster ‘Enter the Dragon.’ Just like in the West, Lee had become an icon and hugely popular with action film enthusiasts in Pakistan as well. His films did roaring business in cinemas and popularised the martial arts in Pakistan. Lee died a sudden death in 1973.
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A rare photo showing the Pakistan hockey team on its way to win the 1971 Hockey World Cup held in Barcelona, Spain. It defeated the host country in the finals.
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Wife of the Shah of Iran arrives at the Quetta Airport (1973). She was greeted by the then Balochistan governor, Mir Ghaos Baksh Beznjo, who belonged to the left-wing National Awami Party (NAP) that headed the government in Balochistan (after the 1970 election).
Ironically, Bezenjo and the NAP government in the province were dismissed by the Z A. Bhutto regime when the Shah of Iran warned Pakistan that NAP was instigating Baloch nationalist rebellion in the Iranian part of Balochistan.
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A 21-year-old Benazir Bhutto sitting on the porch of her father Z A. Bhutto’s house in Karachi (1974). Benazir would go on to lead her father’s Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) after he was hanged to death by General Ziaul Haq in April 1979.
In 1990s she was twice elected as Pakistan’s prime minister before tragically losing her life at the hands of Islamic militants in December 2007.
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Cover of the May 1972 issue of The Herald. Herald (a monthly published by the Dawn Group) was initially a magazine focusing on the changing fashion, political and social trends of the urban Pakistani youth. However, from 1980 onwards it became more political in its content.
A 1973 issue of The Herald with a cover story on the then vibrant social scene of Karachi.
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Famous Pakistani model, Rakhshanda Khattak. She was one of Pakistan’s leading fashion models in the 1970s before quitting and leaving the country in 1979. She died in the United States in 2011.
(The photo is from 1972). -Photo courtesy: Express Tribune
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A 1973 album cover (that was then turned into a poster) of Pakistani film playback singer and pop icon, Runna Laila. This poster became popular with college students and could be found gracing the walls of their hostel rooms right along-side posters of Che Gurevara, Mao tse Tung, etc.
Laila was a Bengali hailing from East Pakistan. Her songs attracted the attention and adoration of the Pakistani youth in the late 1960s and early 1970s.
Though she did not leave West Pakistan after East Pakistan became Bangladesh in 1971, she finally decided to go and become a Bangladeshi citizen in 1974.
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A 1972 Runa Laila song (performed on Pakistan’s state-owned TV channel, PTV) that added the ‘hippie chic’ in modern Pakistani music.
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Soundtrack album (LP) of 1975 Pakistani film, ‘Shabana.’ The film starred one of the leading Pakistani film actresses and sex symbol of the 1970s, Barbra Sharif.
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A 1975 poster showing some of Pakistan’s most popular Sindhi, Baloch, Pushtun and Punjabi folk performers. The poster was printed in the United States where these performers went to perform at the ‘American Folklife Concert’ in Washington DC.
Indigenous Pakistani folk culture and music were aggressively patronised by the populist government of Z A. Bhutto. Some analysts suggest that this was at least one part of his regime’s strategy to co-opt nationalist sentiments simmering among Sindhi, Baloch and Pushtun nationalists.
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A European couple outside a cheap hotel in Peshawar in 1975. A number of such hotels had sprung up in Peshawar, Lahore and Karachi to accommodate the rising tide of Western backpackers that began arriving from the late 1960s onwards. Can’t explain the gun holster, though. Most probably it’s empty.
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Famous 1970s Iranian pop singer and icon Madam Googoosh on the cover of a Persian magazine, ‘Beta.’ Googoosh toured Pakistan in 1975 and became a huge hit with concert and TV audiences.
She planned to return for another series of concerts in Pakistan but after the 1979 Islamic Revolution in Iran she was banned by the new Iranian regime.
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Some young members of the Pakistan cricket team living it up at a nightclub (1976). Seen (from left): The hard-hitting and flamboyant Wasim Raja (bearded); opener Mudassar Nazar; fast bowler Sikandar Bakht and batsman, Javed Miandad.
Notice the tone used in the caption of the photograph that appeared in a Pakistani English daily. It is upbeat and matter-of-fact, unlike the condemning tone that (mostly Urdu press) began to use for ‘partying cricketers’ after early 1980s.
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A more contemporary rendition of a Sindhi nationalist poster. The poster was first designed and printed in 1973 soon after the formation of radical Sindhi nationalist party, the Jeeay Sindh. The poster tries to encapsulate (and propagate) the secular, pluralistic and tolerant nature of Sindhi people and their links with Sufi Islam.
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Wife of Pakistan’s first popularly elected Prime Minister, Nusrat Bhutto, representing Pakistan at a 1975 conference in Mexico. Some observers believe she was far more progressive than her ‘socialist’ husband (Z A. Bhutto).
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A 1974 photo of famous Pakistani cricketer, Imran Khan, in typically flashy and expressive 1970s attire. Equally famous of being an ‘over indulgent playboy,’ Khan became a ‘born-again Muslim’ after he retired from cricket in 1990 and then formed a political party (in 1996).
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A 1987 picture showing former Pakistan cricket captain sitting with conservative Pakistani military dictator, General Ziaul Haq. Khan had announced his retirement from cricket in 1987 but was coaxed to return to the team by Zia.
During the 1970s and 1980s, most major Pakistani cricket stars had political connections (though they were never a direct part of any party). For example, fast bowler Sarfraz Nawaz, former Pakistan captain Mushtaq Muhammad and Javed Miandad were Bhutto fans.
And though Khan was not politically inclined towards Zia’s conservative policies, he remained a close acquaintance of the dictator.
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A 1976 photo showing famous Pakistani pop star, Alamgir, sharing a joke with popular TV actor and comedian, late Moin Akhtar. The photo was taken just before an Alamgir concert in Karachi that was hosted by Moin.
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Rare 1975-76 clip of Alamgir performing with a visiting Turkish pop singer on PTV. The song was later banned by the Zia dictatorship in 1978.
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Pakistani TV actors, Akbar Subhani, Shakeel and RJ on the set of a PTV play (1975). Subhani went on to become an accomplished stage actor, while Shakeel (centre) had already risen as a star on TV in the 1970s.
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Western tourists enjoy beer at the poolside of Karachi’s Intercontinental Hotel (1976). -Photo courtesy Rory McLane.
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American tourists travelling to Lahore from Karachi on a Pakistan Railways train (1976). -Photo courtesy Murad Husain and Bina Ahmed.
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A group of college girls relaxing outside their college in Karachi (1976).
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Rare footage of the famous Pakistan vs. India Test match played at the Karachi Stadium in 1978. Petering out as a dull draw, the match suddenly came alive when the Pakistan team captain, Mushtaq Muhammad, decided to chase the then impossible target of 160 plus runs in less than 25 overs in the last session of the match.
A 21-year-old Javed Miandad and Vice Captain, Asif Iqbal, were sent in as openers. After an incredible display of running between the wickets, Pakistan still required more than 8 runs an over when Iqbal got out.
Mushtaq sent in the young Imran Khan (then 26) to lift the scoring rate. After surviving a run-out scare, Khan tore into the Indian bowling attack by smashing two towering sixes and a four to take Pakistan home to victory.
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DAWN headline about the military take-over of General Ziaul Haq (July 1977). The elections did not take place ‘next October.’ Zia ruled for 11 years. Pakistan was never the same again.
Nadeem F. Paracha is a cultural critic and senior columnist for Dawn Newspaper and Dawn.com
The views expressed by this blogger and in the following reader comments do not necessarily reflect the views and policies of the Dawn Media Group.
Ab unhein dhond chargh-e-rukh-e zaiba ly ker
I too thank Zia. As a teenager, I was jealous of the hi-life in Pakistan from where our ancestors had been thrown out forcibly and our properties usurped. But now I am thankful that I am no longer in that place where everyone seems to hate everyone.
I wish that i have a time machine to go back in that era. Pakistan ko nazar lag gaee hai
Great collection, amazing times. Hope we see them again in our life time.
BTW there is no footage attached to the Pak VS India in 1978. I see the Runa Laila video again.
Do not loose hope. Just do your bit.
surprisingly Pakistan took so long to go down.
It was to go down eventually.
In a democratic polity there would have been no refuge in religion
which became order of the day by Zia's time.
Tears in my eyes while looking at all these pictures sitting thousands of miles from my birth city Karachi, As a child in 70's I use to go to all such places with my parents and uncles and have experience all that freedom and liberty which is an unknown animal in that Land of Pure. Pakistan will never be the same again. That country and new generation is too radicalized. Thank you Nadeem, when you come to Houston I will take you out for a drink I owe you few for such lovely pictures.
Pakistan's obssession with India, perpetual hatred towards Hindus and the blind need to be the perfect Islamic state is making it into a theological hell-hole.
Not all Pakistani hate Indians. It is mostly Punjabis as they blindly follow army mindset. Army again is dominated by Punjabis. In army’s opinion if relations with India turn normal they would be jobless. Means people would ask why we need to spend so much amount on army and their weapons when we have no one to fight with. People of other province especially Sindh are not only tolerant but are also open to Hindus and other non-Muslims. But the problem with Sindhis is that they are tied with Punjabis and since Punjab is 60 per cent of Pakistan population-wise nothing can go against their will. So to bring about any change in the mindset of Pakistanis initiative has to start with Punjab.
why do we always have to be on extremes.
exactly…do we want to have public bikins back in our country…i love it , but do not want it in public
The biggest atrocity committed by Zia was not killing of Bhutto. His biggest crime was to destroy peoples ability to think critically and rationally . He brainwashed the entire future generation right from the primary school. Today, an average Pakistani still thinks that "all our problems are due to non-conformity to Islam and its principle". "We are not pious Muslims therefore we are in trouble". The entire nation is on a wild goose chase to become a "perfect" Muslim without realizing that "perfect muslim" means different things to different people. Taliban were "perfect" in their own mind, Beralvis are "perfect" in their own way etc. They key here is to understand the diverse nature of this global religion and accept each others differences and mind your own business. Name one "islamic" country in the world that has achieved the pinnacle of both worldly and religious success and which can act as a guiding star for all the prospective "perfect" Muslims?
I agree with Ali
so 100% true Ali.
"Today, an average Pakistani still thinks that "all our problems are due to non-conformity to Islam and its principle". "We are not pious Muslims therefore we are in trouble". The entire nation is on a wild goose chase to become a "perfect" Muslim without realizing that "perfect muslim" means different things to different people. Taliban were "perfect" in their own mind, Beralvis are "perfect" in their own way etc."
Nadeem, you've reminded me of those fond memories. Alas, and as the saying goes, "all good things must come to an end". Indeed those good times did come to an end, a little too soon, with the long lasting curse named Ziaul-Haq. Well, let's hope for the best.
good article NFP.
well articulated. but we have reservatioins regarding this article.
We are emotional and sentimental nation…..we don't see the global scenario and how world is going to change in next ten years. We are involved and have been engaged in knitty grittys of domestic politics, our anchors are madarees who show the monkey game every day. Whereas their job was also to awaken the nation and make them understand the global picture. I wish NFP could do that.
Whereas this NFP article with photos of Karachi depicted true story of that era. However, to say that the religious activities never existed would be an injustice to history. The Jashans, Tazia processions and Milads were a norm in & around the cities’ famous mosques. Two most prominent religious leaders were Moulana Ehtesham-ul-Haq Thanvi and Moulana Shafi Okarvi. They used to take verbal jibes at each other, however, what I remember, there was mutual respect. There were Shia-Sunni tension, however, was limited to Moharram’s first 10 days. In late 50s and 60s,the night clubs & Gora Sahib’s imitation was mostly practiced by young immigrants from India between the age of 20s and 40s, as they grew up in British Raj. Later the Beatles & other Rock groups brought the popularity of pop and disco culture that mostly enjoyed by school and college going teens. There was a wide gap between 2 classes of students in elite private schools with English as medium of teaching and students in government schools; it was not for money but more so of “we are elites as we speak few sentences of broken English & can dance on English tunes, and you don’t”). The simplicity of dressing in Kurta Pajama was considered a sign of backwardness.
I enjoyed NFP’s awesome article, as I lived that era and was part of both groups.
For all the Imran fanatics, be careful what you wish for. I am not a Pakistani so I don't have a horse in this race. If you Pakistani want a former playboy who conveniently discovered God when he wanted to run for public office as your leader more power to you.
However, we Americans were duped not too long ago by a similar rich playboy, who was a party animal well into his 40's, and conveniently discovered Jesus when he wanted to run for office. George Dumbya Bush was a complete and total disaster for America, and Imran Khan will be just a s big a disaster for Pakistan.
" I am not a Pakistani "
well don't comment about Pakistan then, period.
I disagree with the assessment that Pakistan was more liberal any any point in time in the past. For e.g. the 1950s had the first anti-Ahmadi movement, the 1960s saw a war with India that was viewed upon by the general Pakistanis as a “hindu-muslim” ware, the 1970s saw the birth of Bangladesh because West Pakistanis then thought of East Bengals as muslims “corrupted” by hindu influences and refused to yeild to their demands. The 1980s & 1990s saw the the final metamamorphsis of Pakistan into a fundametalistic Islamic state. The 2000s just saw the tragic effect of this. So, no point in going back to ANY point in time in the past. Hope dawn publishes my comment.
You couldn’t be more wrong about the birth of Bengladesh. They were not cornered because of “Hindu” influence, they were marginalized because our punjabi establishment (military and punjabi politicians) couldn’t digest the fact that they could be out numbered by “bloody” Bengalis. Sorry but it had nothing to do with India or Hindus.
You are partially right. Ask any living Bengali who has witnessed the whole saga. The partition’s seed was sewn when Urdu was imposed on Bengalis. Also, beside Military and Punjabi politician who were basically landlords, Bengalis were fed by behari and Urdu speaking business owners in the then East Pakistan, who always looked down on them. In fact, Military, Punjabi and Urdu speaking elite along side Behari’s who conspired with Jamat e Islami paved the way for the creation of Bangladesh. And yes, India aided them whole heartedly
Pakistan used to be a modern-liberal country. Islamist Zia destroyed it, if you read the first two parts of the article.
Che Guevara in Karachi. Left wing AZO militant hijacking the PIA plane.
Amazing pictures!
NFP's articles are always worth reading.
NFP u r doing a great job>
Good old days!…Ok, so we were good, turned bad. But now what are we/you doing about it? Nations/people tumble but then get back on track, why are we not able to control ourselves, rather moving away and away. Propose something that helps, crying over spilt milk does not help. What needs to be done. lets talk about that….
yada maze azab ha ya rab
cheen la muje sa hafza mera
my early school time when lot of hippie walking on street of my dream city PESHAWAR
Whereas this NFP article with photos of Karachi depicted true story of that era. However, to say that the religious activities never existed would be an injustice to history. The Jashans, Tazia processions and Milads were a norm in & around the cities’ famous mosques. Two most prominent religious leaders were Moulana Ehtesham-ul-Haq and Moulana Shafi Okarvi. They used to take verbal jibes at each other, however, what I remember, there was mutual respect. There were Shia-Sunni Fassaads, however, were limited to Moharram’s first 10 days. In late 50s and 60s,the night clubs & Gora Sahib’s imitation was mostly practiced by young immigrants (my parents' generation) between 20s and 40s as they grew up in British era. Later the Beatles & other Rock groups brought the awareness about pop and disco culture that mostly enjoyed by school and college going teens. There was still a wide gap between 2 classes of tight pants heroes and Pajama group; it was not of money but more so of “we are elites as we speak few sentences of English & can dance on English tunes, and you don’t” – in some conversations Pajama team was also referred as Namazis.
I enjoyed NFP’s awesome article, as I lived that era and was part of both groups, had tight pants hidden in the school bag while left the house in the Pajama.
I have read in papers (can't remember the exact sources) that all religions were respected back then…. I wish I could see a Pakistan like that… at 25 years old, I feel like a caveman looking at these snaps
We may curse Zia all we want .. but his 'vehicle' of destruction .. the band wagon with the capital 'A' is going full throttle towards their 'strategic depth' nonsense funda. I wonder if this 'hole in their sole' depth will ever be filled.
To Mr NFP’s references to Mr Khan, ok he was a play boy, but honestly, to be fair. NFP could have added that Mr Khan went on to build the first free cancer hospital in the country + did a lot to up Pakistan’s image in western world. He also befriended Nawaz Sharif and Benazir in oxford. But Mr NFP conveniently ignored those and only mentiones close alliance to Zia. Where is the proof of that ? Mr Zardari and Mr Malik sent msgs to pak team before world cup finaal, so now we can say that all pakistan team are close friends of Mr Zardari and Mr Malik? since im criticising this article, it might not be published, but i request please be fair to all.
Jameela, I am a fan of NFP but often riticize his articles for his pro PPP and MQM tilt and frequent below the belt punches on Imran Khan and PTI, however, in this article he has been extremely fair about PPPs leaders and Imran Khan. Cancer hospital was the outcome of Imran's efforts around late 80s and 90s whereas this article pertains to 60s and 70s. You could have criticized as I did about his completely ignoring the religious activities and relative harmony among the various sects. Also, Imran has admitted himself about his privileged upbringing and western lifestyle which was not frowned upon as it was considered as a sign of keeping up with the world. So let us called spade a spade. PS: Go Imran.
All this is still going on in Pakistan even now -the dances, the parties, the booze etc. Youtube will attest to it. I have a popular Pakistani magazine from the 70s with Pakistani models in bikinis, probably too raunchy for Dawn?