Gali-i-Dastoor symbolises Pakistan’s struggle for democracy
ISLAMABAD: The Senate recently revamped a corridor on the first floor of Parliament House, by the Senate chairman’s office, and transformed it into Gali-i-Dastoor or Constitution Lane.
According to the pamphlet handed out at the beginning of a tour of the corridor, it is “now host to the important yet most neglected aspects of Pakistan’s history”.
A tour of the lane begins with a short video played on a flat screen TV hoisted on the wall opposite the lane. It gives an introduction to what the Constitution symbolises and the struggles that the people of Pakistan faced to uphold it. With a video of a caged bird that manages to break free and fly away, the voice over says that if a nation wants to, it can rewrite its destiny.
“This is not just the history of a country, the mural depicts the history of a nation,” the video says.
Frosted glass doors open to the gallery, and the large mural divided in five panels, each separated by a ‘dark’ period of martial law, is painted on the right wall. A large picture window runs the length of the corridor and lets in plenty of light.
With the idea that democracy is an ongoing process and that both good and bad times have led us to where we are now, various sized tiles have been installed on the floor of the lane to signify the bigger and smaller steps towards democracy.
The bigger tiles represent ‘big steps’ towards democracy and depict the times when democracy progressed more freely and at a faster pace. The smaller tiles represent the restrictions levied on the democratic process and signify the smaller steps towards democracy.