Sindh Assembly building
| Sindh Assembly Building | |
|---|---|
سنڌ اسيمبلي بلڊنگ | |
 | |
| Former names | National Assembly House (1947–1959) |
| General information | |
| Status | Semi-functional |
| Type | Heritage |
| Architectural style | Art Deco |
| Location | Court Road, Saddar Town |
| Address | South Karachi District, Karachi Division, Sindh |
| Town or city | Karachi |
| Country |  Pakistan |
| Coordinates | 24°51′16″N 67°01′13″E / 24.854426°N 67.0202927°E |
| Groundbreaking | 1940 by Sir Lancelot Graham |
| Construction started | 11 March 1940 |
| Opened | 4 March 1943 by Sir Hugh Dow |
| Owner | Government of Sindh |
| Technical details | |
| Floor count | 2 |
| Design and construction | |
| Architect(s) | Anderson & Asarpota |
| Other information | |
| Seating capacity | 62 |
The Sindh Assembly Building is the seat of Provincial Assembly of Sindh. It was the seat of the Constituent Assembly of Pakistan between 1947 and 1956 and the National Assembly of Pakistan between 1956 and 1958. The building was designed by architects Anderson & Asarpota and was constructed between 1940 and 1943. It was opened in 4 March 1943 as the seat of the Sind Legislative Assembly. Following the independence of Pakistan, it was taken over by the Constituent Assembly of Pakistan.
History
[edit]The building's construction was started on 11 March 1940 in Karachi, when, Sind's governor Sir Lancelot Graham, laid its foundation stone. It took nearly three years to complete and it functioned as the seat of the Sind Legislative Assembly till 1947.[1] It was designed by Anderson & Asarpota in Art Deco style.[2] On 3 March 1943, one day before the building's inauguration, Pakistan Resolution was presented at the assembly building. After the independence of Pakistan in 1947, it became the place where Muhammad Ali Jinnah was sworn as the governor-general of Pakistan. In the post-independence Pakistan, it was made the seat of the Constituent Assembly of Pakistan[1] and another assembly hall was built inside the campus of NJV Government Higher Secondary School for the Provincial Assembly of Sindh in 1949 at Muhammad Ali Jinnah Road of the city.[3][4] After 1956, it was functioned as the seat of the National Assembly of Pakistan till 1959.[1] On 31 August 2007, foundation stone for new assembly hall was laid in the building's backyard.[5] Construction for the new hall was started in 2011 and the provincial assembly's session activities were shifted there in 2014.[6] The government planned to convert the old building into a museum.[7]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c Rao, Vakeel (11 March 2019). "Sindh Assembly building enters its 80th year of existence". The Express Tribune.
- ^ Ahmed, Nida (2017). COLONIAL ENCOUNTERS, KARACHI AND ANGLO-INDIAN DWELLINGS DURING THE RAJ (PDF) (Thesis). Middle East Technical University. p. 143.
- ^ "Fire at old Sind Assembly Hall". Dawn. 10 December 2010.
- ^ Balouch, Akhtar (2015-06-30). "NJV — Sindh's first public school". DAWN.COM. Retrieved 2022-04-21.
- ^ Ghori, Habib Khan (1 September 2007). "KARACHI: New Sindh assembly hall project launched". Dawn.
- ^ Masood, Tooba (24 June 2014). "Cradle of democracy: Sindh moves assembly into brand new building". The Express Tribune.
- ^ Tunio, Hafeez (23 October 2013). "Short on space, MPAs anxiously wait for new Sindh Assembly building". The Express Tribune.
- Cultural heritage sites in Sindh
- Parliament of Pakistan
- Provincial Assembly of Sindh
- Heritage sites in Karachi
- Government buildings in Pakistan
- British colonial architecture in Pakistan
- 1943 establishments in British India
- Government buildings completed in 1943
- Art Deco architecture
- Buildings and structures in Karachi