Minar-e-Pakistan 7.18

Minar-e-Pakistan is a public monument located in Iqbal Park, adjacent to the Walled City of Lahore, in the Pakistani province of Punjab. The tower was constructed during the 1960s on the site where the All-India Muslim League passed the Lahore Resolution on 23 March 1940 - the first official call for a separate and independent homeland for the Muslims of British India, as espoused by the two-nation theory.DesignThe tower reflects a blend of Mughal/Islamic and modern architecture.The tower was designed and supervised by Nasreddin Murat-Khan, an architect and engineer hailing from Daghistan. The structural design was performed by Nasreddin Murat-Khan (a qualified engineer himself), assisted by Engineer Abdur Rehman Khan Niazi, who was working as Structural Design Engineer for Illeri N. Murat-Khan & Associates. Approved by the President, the design was built by Mian Abdul Khaliq and Company. The foundation stone was laid on 23 March 1960. Construction took eight years, and was completed on 21 October 1968 at an estimated cost of Rs 7,058,000. The money was collected by imposing an additional tax on cinema and horse racing tickets at the demand of Akhtar Hussain, governor of West Pakistan. Today, the minaret provides a panoramic view to visitors who can't climb up the stairs or access the top, by means of an elevator. The parks around the monument include marble fountains and an artificial lake.