“Inside Musharrafville”

That the city to replace Muzaffarad is going to be named New Muzaffarabad is beyond any doubt unless people insist on calling it Musharrafville of course to honour his wise leadership! What will New Muzaffarabad look like, will it reflect the egalitarian concept of urban planning; will it have the modern look to attract the likes of Bill Gates. What about the highways and motorways connecting it to all cities in Pakistan and India to attract tourists? Let’s take a peek, if you will, into the future and see how, if all goes well, tourists in 2015 would describe New Muzaffarabad.

AS WE HOP on a tourist bus in Islamabad, we are told by a polite Kashmiri hostess that we will need to get our passports stamped at the border between Kashmir and Pakistan. We make sure that we have our passports with us. The bus skims on a silky motorway cutting through the lush green mountains around Murree and in less than an hour we are at the border where a signboard reads: “Welcome to the Republic of Kashmir.”

Our bus stops in the parking lot and we get off to get our passports stamped. A female immigration officer behind the counter stamps the passports and we get back to the bus. As it enters the large gate on the other side of the border one is reminded by a monument to remember all those men, women and children who died in an earthquake ten years ago.

In about 15 minutes, we drive on the Domel Bridge a marvel reflecting the post-modern architecture. As we cross the bridge, we enter New Muzaffarabad. Latest model vehicles on the well-marked roads speak of the wealth generated over a decade.

New Muzaffarabad, the second-largest city of the Republic of Kashmir, is known for its neat and clean haciendas built in such a way that they encourage strong neighbourly relations where people of all income levels live together and interact on a personal and classless level. All civic amenities are located close at hand so that residents don’t need to drive for running errands. It is a resident-friendly, community-oriented city with the most modern architecture.

Although Srinagar is known for its cultural and iconoclastic attraction, New Muzaffarabad is among the five planned cities in the world including Islamabad, Changigarh, Brasilia and Canberra. It was built literally on the ashes of the old city. The rubble left behind by the 2005 earthquake could not be moved thus over a period of time it turned into a mound. People who lost their dear ones in the earthquake still visit the “Zalzala Pahari” every Thursday to offer prayers. The government of Kashmir has erected a monument to remember all those who died in the earthquake.

Winding through the main bazaar we reach our double-storey hotel which we are told is “QR” or “Quake Resistant.” A modern five-star hotel with all the latest facilities offers serene panoramic views from the foyer and as we go to our room on the first floor, the window opens into the Nelum Valley. Set in a leafy location, the hotel has the honour of receiving the madam president of the United States and the prime Minister of Israel among other celebrities of the world.

Bill and Melinda Gates have a sprawling estate overlooking river Jhelum. Since the decline of the US economy and the divisive social unrest in the European Union, Bill virtually moved his billion dollar Microsoft Corporation to Kashmir which offered a strategic location to market his latest product to the world’s largest economies. Since China rose to become an economic superpower, New Muzaffarabad was the favourite choice for Gates leaving behind the ailing United States and the blazing European Union that once offered the most lucrative markets.

Harry Potter Stadium is a futuristic project funded by a Pakistani business group. Once complete it will offer a unique game where players wearing jet suits will play with a hovering ball. Although the project has scored some success, but the project managers are not satisfied and believe it might take another couple of years to fine tune.

The next morning we took off to the Formula One race track to watch the regional four-lapper. Shahzore of Iran won. This track has a unique feature for professional xbox gamers. The race is transmitted live to xbox, the playstation, (at a minor rental!) and gamers can race their own cars on their TV screens in the actual race taking place in the stadium.

New Muzaffarabad is the economic engine of the Republic of Kashmir. Microsoft and other IT companies and Israeli traders have contributed to the development of this devastated, land-locked country. Tourism accounts for the second largest income. The democratic and egalitarian values and the peaceful nature of the Kashmiris attracted the economic giants to invest here.

A world class museum in New Muzaffarabad houses holographic replicas of the alleged tomb of Jesus Christ in Hazrat Bal which is on the outskirts of Srinagar, by the way. The most popular section in the museum, Earthquake Kids, takes one on a virtual journey to the past. Beginning with the live video of the 2005 earthquake, it chronicles the lives of 50 orphans who exhibited extraordinary leadership.

The Musharraf International airport is located in between Srinagar and New Muzaffarabad. Linked with all major air-routes it transports thousands of foreign tourists in and out of Kashmir. No wonder a stroll through the bazaars offer a multicultural look. The University of New Muzaffarabad we are told is at the cutting edge of solar energy technology.

(The author is a freelance journalist and media strategist.)

Leony Li
By The Pakistan Monitor
Published: 2009-01-25T06:54:00-08:00
“Inside Musharrafville”
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