How do countries choose their capitals? Some emerge organically: London is one example; to a lesser extent, so is Delhi; others are hand-picked for economic or strategic reasons. When the capital of Pakistan shifted from Karachi to custom-built Islamabad, for example, the older city’s geographical vulnerability was cited as one motivation for the move: perched on the coast of the Arabian Sea, it was far too susceptible to maritime attacks. Other reasons were also given: the capital needed to be easily accessible from all parts of the country (though this explanation appeared to disregard our more populous eastern wing) and the emerging, and altogether too cosy, nexus between the bureaucracy and business in Karachi needed to be undercut. Of course, it didn’t hurt that the new capital sat cheek-by-jowl with the military headquarters based in Rawalpindi.
Looking back, however, was Islamabad really the best choice of federal capital at the time — and were we to revisit the idea, would we choose differently? For Herald’s upcoming issue, a number of writers, commentators and intellectuals sound off on the following question:
Which city is the best (alternative) capital for present-day Pakistan?
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