THE Islamabad administration decides on naming city roads from time to time. The names should correspond to the importance of the person during the independence movement or any outstanding contribution in service of Pakistan.

Naming a road in the national capital should be an expression of the nation’s gratitude for the contribution made by the individual for Pakistan, especially when there is an element of sacrifice made by the individual.

Regrettably, there is little rationale in selecting the names of individuals in whom the roads are named after. That is why some prime roads are named after bureaucrats, directors in media organisations, second-rate poets or literary figures, or even small-time socialites.

Obviously, this smacks of nepotism of who knows who and who had connections in the Capital Development Authority (CDA) or how the interested groups could pull strings in the right places.

One person who has not been recognised appropriately is Quaid-i-Azam’s right-hand man, Pakistan’s first prime minister Nawabzada Liaquat Ali Khan. There is a small decrepit road called Shaheed-i-Millat Road that carries reference to him connecting Suhrawardy Avenue to the Super Market in F-6.

Not many know who is it named after. No road is named after Ayub Khan, who actually conceived Islamabad and moved the capital here. We cannot remove him from our history and stop being grateful for the many good things he did for Pakistan. He deserves one road named after him, too.

Common sense suggests that the CDA named the top road after Mohammad Ali Jinnah. The second one after Allama Muhammad Iqbal, for he is the poet of the East. The third most important road should then be named after Pakistan’s first prime minister.

The 9th Avenue, one of the major and busiest roads, should be named the ‘Liaquat Ali Khan Avenue.’ Currently, it is named after Agha Shahi, who was a bureaucrat and was paid for the services he performed.

Many more holding positions higher than him retired and have no roads named after them. So, obviously the naming was pushed by some people who benefitted from him or owed their own careers to him. If he was rewarded for one particular work he did, Ghulam Ishaq Khan did even better and then rose to become the president of Pakistan.

Liaquat Ali Khan was a steadfast deputy to the Quaid for many years. He persuaded the Quaid to come back and lead the Muslim League when Jinnah moved to live in Britain during the 1930s. The Quaid made him the prime minister of the country.

He was arguably the richest landlord of undivided India and left his entire estate for Pakistan. He gifted his personal mansions in Delhi, which is the residence of the Pakistan’s high commissioner in India. The property was valued at 3.9 billion Indian rupees in 1989. On top of it all, he refused to accept a penny till every slum dweller was accommodated in the country.

His landholdings were so big that there were reportedly some 300 villages over them only in Meerut district. He died with no money in his accounts. His children and grandchildren seek jobs to survive in Pakistan. He was not a turncoat like many who joined the Muslim League when they saw Pakistan was inevitable. These are the people who benefitted unfairly in Pakistan.

I dare say that Liaquat Ali Khan was denigrated under a thought-out plan. This nation owes it to restore his place of honour in our country. Islamabad’s new airport should also be named after him, for we have Karachi’s named after Jinnah, Lahore’s after Iqbal. Some people rushed to name the old airport after Benazir Bhutto because they had influence and network, and our first prime minister was let down under an organised plan.

Sajjad Ashraf
Former ambassador
Islamabad

Published in Dawn, February 24th, 2022