Dubbed ‘Little London’ when still under British rule, Quetta, in Pakistan’s Balochistan Province, was levelled to the ground by an earthquake in 1935. Yet, although the physical evidence of the city’s colonial heritage was lost in the temblor, reminders remain of the British legacy--locals still add milk to their tea, for example, and when they take to the roads they drive (nominally at least) on the left.
But look closely at the motifs that adorn locals’ rickshaws and motorised tricycle taxis and a very different image emerges--one of an ethnically mixed subcontinent city. For while the colourful flags of the Pashtun and Baloch political parties most frequently embellish these small vehicles, there’s no shortage of black Shiite banners, or the Jamiat Ulama´e Islam’s black and white horizontal stripes (which also serve as reminders that many in Quetta demand the strict enforcement of traditional Islamic law).
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