The Teen Talwar (Three Swords) monument is located in

Clifton Clifton may refer to: People *Clifton (surname) *Clifton (given name) Places Australia * Clifton, Queensland, a town **Shire of Clifton *Clifton, New South Wales, a suburb of Wollongong *Clifton, Western Australia Canada *Clifton, Nova Scotia ...

Karachi Karachi (; ur, ; ; ) is the most populous city in Pakistan and 12th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 20 million. It is situated at the southern tip of the country along the Arabian Sea coast. It is the former cap ...

Sindh Sindh (; ; ur, , ; historically romanized as Sind) is one of the four provinces of Pakistan. Located in the southeastern region of the country, Sindh is the third-largest province of Pakistan by land area and the second-largest province ...

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

. The three marble swords are inscribed with Quaid-e-Azam

Mohammad Ali Jinnah Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد; 570 – 8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet divinely inspired to preach and confirm the mono ...

's creeds ''

Unity, Faith and Discipline Faith, Unity, Discipline ( ur, ) is the national motto of Pakistan. It is regarded as the guiding principle of Pakistan's nationhood. Upon the independence of Pakistan, it was introduced and adopted as the national motto by the country's foun ...

''. It was commissioned by Pakistan's former President and Prime Minister,

Zulfikar Ali Bhutto Zulfikar (or Zulfiqar) Ali Bhutto ( ur, , sd, ذوالفقار علي ڀٽو; 5 January 1928 – 4 April 1979), also known as Quaid-e-Awam ("the People's Leader"), was a Pakistani barrister, politician and statesman who served as the fourth ...

in 1973, and was designed by Zoroastrian architect Minu Mistri.

Background

Zulfikar Ali Bhutto approved the monument as part of a beautification scheme to depict the Pakistan Peoples Party's

electoral symbol An electoral symbol is a standardised symbol allocated to an independent candidate or political party by a country's election commission for use in election ballots. Usage Symbols are used by parties in their campaigning, and printed on ballot p ...

of a sword. The initial concept was for the three swords to be shown in the PPP's electoral colours (black, green and red). Later, the idea was changed to white marble. Designed by Architect Minoo Mistri and constructed during Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto's period, it depicts Quaid-e-Azam's three pillars of strength: Unity, Faith & Discipline. It was constructed by well known unlimited Government contractor company M/s Mughal Corporation whose owner was Mr Haji Ilyas Hassan Baltistani who also build Laprus Hospital and so many other government buildings. He was a friend of Mr Muhammad Ali Habib (owner of Habib Group) and he was a richest man of his time and well known personality in Pakistan and in Baltistani Community.

Current status

The structure stands on a small roundabout in the middle of the road. This asphalt island is the remnant of a much larger, grassy roundabout that controlled traffic at the intersection of Chartered Accountants Avenue, Bath Island Road and main Khayaban-e-Iqbal Road. As the original roundabout has been replaced with traffic signals, the remaining circular island tends to cause traffic tie-ups. Despite a clean up and restoration of the monument in 2008 (which also reduced the size of the roundabout), another problem has been the persistence of advertising, political banners and flyers that are continually placed on the structure, as the monument rests in a highly visible place in the city.

References

Buildings and structures in Karachi Squares in Karachi Clifton, Karachi Monuments and memorials in Pakistan {{Sindh-geo-stub