RAWALPINDI, Oct 16: Hatred and admiration continue to emanate from the walls in the populous Rawalpindi city in the form of graffiti.

This is despite the fact that wall-chalking is a serious offence involving punishment of fine or imprisonment.

So far not a single violator has been fined or imprisoned in Rawalpindi since wall-chalking was banned in Punjab some 15 years ago.

Despite a robust media and advanced information technology, walls, buildings and bridges are still considered powerful and cheap tools for political expressions and advertisements.

With the exception of boundary walls around military offices, there is hardly a building in Rawalpindi city which is not smeared with graffiti. The content ranges from political expressions to advertisements and unethical, abusive language.

Sectarian slogans on underpasses, bridges and the walls of buildings can especially be seen on the city's busy Benazir Bhutto Road, formerly known as Murree Road.

Under the Punjab Prohibition of Expressing Matters on Walls Act 1995, violators are to be punished with imprisonment for a term of six months or with a fine of Rs5,000.

But the act is being violated with impunity. Traders, homeopathic doctors, fortune-tellers, cinema owners and religious-political and sectarian groups have pasted their advertisements and slogans on every wall in Rawalpindi city without any permission from the owners of the buildings or walls.

“I have many times washed out the wall-chalking on the boundary walls of my house but I have failed to stop it. I have written a warning on the wall against wall-chalking but to no avail,” Sajjad Qureshi, a resident near Liaquat Bagh, told Dawn .

“In many areas the wording of wall-chalking is so vulgar and abusive. This leaves a negative impact on school-going children who can read the writings. Is there no authority that can stop all this graffiti,” he regretted.

Almost everyday new posters of Indian and Pakistani movies are pasted on various busy intersections in the city, including Mareer Chowk, Chandni Chowk, Fawara Chowk, etc., to attract cinema lovers, informing them about the release of new movies. The wall-chalking not only spreads hatred against particular groups or political parties, the menace has also given a dirty look to the city.

The municipal authorities are solely responsible for implementing the ban on wall-chalking, but so far no action has ever been launched.

Rawal Town Administrator Talat Gondal was not available for comments despite repeated attempts.

However, Town Officer Regulations (TOR) Rawal Town, Malik Tauseef, told Dawn that sectarian slogans had been washed out from the city walls, adding that he would soon launch a drive against the offence.

“I admit that wall-chalking in the city has increased alarmingly and we have received complaints from many people against the abusive graffiti. We would also request the police to arrest violators on the spot in order to eradicate the offence,” he added.