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The Teen Talwar (Three Swords) monument is located in Clifton, Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan. The three marble swords are inscribed with Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah's creeds Unity, Faith and Discipline. It was commissioned by Pakistan's former President and Prime Minister, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto.
Background
Zulfikar Ali Bhutto approved this monument to depict the Pakistan Peoples Party's electoral symbol of a sword. The initial concept was for the three swords to be shown in the PPP's electoral colors (black, green and red). Later, the idea was changed to white marble.
Designed by Architect Minoo Mistri and constructed during Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto's period, it depicts Quaid-e-Azam's three pillars of strength: Unity, Faith & Discipline.
Current status and problematic issues
Inexplicably, the monument has become a target for unscrupulous and misguided sentiments. In 2000, the white marble was adorned with Arabic text that reads "Praise be to Allah" and "Glory to Allah," defacing its pristine surface and subverting the message of the original "Unity, Faith and Discipline" motto, which places equal weight on all three qualities.
The structure stands on a small roundabout in the middle of the road. This asphalt island is the remnant of a much larger, grassy roundabout that controlled traffic at the intersection of Chartered Accountants Avenue, Bath Island Road and main Khayaban-e-Iqbal Road. As the original roundabout has been replaced with traffic signals, the remaining circular island tends to cause traffic tie-ups. Despite a clean up and restoration of the monument in 2008 (which also reduced the size of the roundabout), another problem has been the persistence of advertising, political banners and flyers that are continually placed on the structure, as the monument rests in a highly visible place in the city.
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