Diplomatic Enclave Gate 5: A Non-Existent Entrance

On the occasion of Imran Khan's protest in D-Chowk Islamabad on 11 May 2014, all entrances to the Diplomatic Enclave Islamabad were sealed due to security reasons except one: Gate 5.

Gate 5 of the Diplomatic Enclave is approached from the 3rd Avenue - the road from where the Shuttle service for embassy visa procedures starts - and from the opposite side from Quaid-e-Azam University and Bari Imam.

As we drove in the dark of the 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, 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 the gate.

Finally, we drove towards Bari Imam. A couple of policemen stood on the road side. We told them that we wanted to enter the Enclave through Gate 5 but we mysteriously could not find the entrance to the Gate. 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 in the dark of the night, and construct a road and fix lights to make it look like the Diplomatic Enclave Gate 5 entrance.

This was also published in the Dawn newspaper on 23 May 2014:
http://www.dawn.com/news/1108036