ON the occasion of Imran Khan’s protest at D-Chowk, Islamabad, on May 11, all entrances to the Diplomatic Enclave except one, Gate 5, were sealed for security reasons .

Gate 5 of the Diplomatic Enclave is approached from Third Avenue – the road from where the shuttle service for embassy visa procedures starts – or from the opposite side from Quaid-i-Azam University and Bari Imam.

As we drove at night, we spotted the well-lit security barriers of Gate 5 from a distance. They were similar to the other enclave gates.

However, to our bewilderment, somehow we could not make out the entrance to the gate.

We drove back and forth several times searching for a road that would lead us to it. Finally, we drove towards Bari Imam.

A couple of policemen stood on the roadside. We told them that we wanted to enter the enclave through Gate 5 but we somehow could not find its entrance.

One policeman asked us to look for water tankers and a broken road with huge potholes.

Had the policeman not indicated what seemed to be a track heading in the direction of Gate 5 of the enclave between huge truck-like vehicles, we would never have undertaken the dark scary journey on the literally non-existent road with massive mud lumps and potholes.

Relevant authorities should pay a visit to the mentioned area, especially during night, and construct a road and fix lights to make it look like the Diplomatic Enclave Gate 5 entrance.

Sarah Rehan

Lahore

Published in Dawn, May 23rd, 2014