Entrance to Pakistan Monument closed from Srinagar Highway side for years.

ISLAMABAD -- Touseef Ali and his family from Bhara Kahu wanted to visit Pakistan Monument but had to return from the entrance on the Srinagar Highway side after they were refused entry.

'This gate remains closed due to security reasons for years; please come from the other side,' the visitors were told by a security guard.

Like Touseef, every day a large number of people reach the gate from Srinagar Highway only to know that it is closed. They then take the Aabpara or I-8 side to reach the monument via Garden Avenue.

Near the entrance to the monument, the visitors face gridlocks, especially on the weekends, as the road is being used for parking and the motorists have to use the reverse gear and go back from the same road.

While another road to the monument which is supposed to be used for exit is also closed as it is being used for horse and camel riding. However, during arrival of 'special guests, VIPs and officers', the road is opened, said a security guard.

Visitors being asked by a security guard to use another road to enter Pakistan Monument as the entrance from Srinagar Highway is closed for years due to 'security reasons.' Motorists use same road for entry and exit from Pakistan Monument as the other road is being used for camel and horse riding. - White Star

'The VIP culture should be eliminated in the country and all citizens should be treated equally,' said a taxi driver. He appreciated Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed's decision to remove police pickets from Islamabad and requested him to also order reopening of the entry gate to the monument from Srinagar Highway.

'These buildings and roads belong to us, so we [citizens] should be allowed to use them to enter the monument from Srinagar Highway as well,' he said.

Another citizen, Naseem Hussain, said the overall arrangements on the premises of the monument are...