Wah Cantonment

Wah Cantonment (Punjabi, Urdu: واہ کینٹ) (often abbreviated to Wah Cantt.) is a military city located in the Punjab province of Pakistan, 30 km to the north west of Rawalpindi/Islamabad.

History
Wah Cantt is adjacent to Taxila, a small town enriched with one of the most important archaeological sites of the world. The name 'Wah' has its roots in the Mughal era with the Mughal emperor Jehangir reported to have coined the name when his army was stationed here en route from a mission. Emperor Jehangir was impressed by the scenery of this place, so he said "Wah" ('wow') and this place was named 'Wah' after that exclamation.

It is said that Mughal emperor Jehangir’s army was coming back from a campaign in Kashmir, it was evening time, and they were tired and looking for a place to stay. After a little search they were successful in finding a place with a natural source of water. As soon as the Mughal King watched the natural beauty of the spring and surrounding mountains, he loudly exclaimed ”Wah!”. His words were written on the stone of history. Since that day, this territory is called Wah. The Mughal advent had a strong influence on the architecture of the city which is still visible to date with prominent Mughal sites like the Wah Gardens.

After gaining Independence, Pakistan had no facilities capable of producing armaments and military goods so urgent plans were made for an ordnance factory in Wah, Punjab. The word Cantt was added to Wah in 1951, when Prime Minister Khawaja Nazim-u-Din unveiled the foundation stone of Pakistan Ordnance Factories Wah Cantt. Chaudhry Sardar Khan was the founder and first Deputy Director General of Pakistan Ordnance Factories (POF), Wah Cantt. POF is not one ammunition factory but it is a complex of 14 factories manufacturing arms and ammunition ranging from bullets, shells, assault rifles, missiles and bombs. Heavy Industries in neighboring Taxila produces tanks and other heavy arms. The nearby town of Kamra is the site of Pakistan Aeronautical Complex where aircraft are manufactured, assembled, repaired and overhauled for the Air Force.

Geography
Wah Cantt is located 50 km (appx. 30 miles) north west of Islamabad. It is a valley, surrounded by hills in all directions. Mughal Emperor Zaheer-UD-Din Babur mentioned the Wah region in his book the Baburnama. Wah has a rich historical background. It was a favorite place of the great Mughal rulers. They built several gardens here such as the most famous “Wah Garden”. It is still present with its remains of Mughal architecture. It is located on the main G.T Road. Wah Garden has a historical value along with being a beautiful and attractive picnic spot. This park has the potential to attract people from different places.

Sultan Sher Shah Suri, who built the famous Grand Trunk Road (GT Road), built a 'bawley' or watering place here. It is now called the Sher Shah Park and is situated near the Aslam Market. It is said that Sher Shah's horses used to drink water there.

Wah is located in a fertile valley. It is suitable for growing every sort of crops, especially fruits. This area was not developed before the construction of the POF, but now it is one of the most advanced and developed places in Pakistan.

Culture
Wah Cantt is a multicultural City. People with various ethnic backgrounds live and work here.People from different religious background live here. Culture from Karachi to Khyber can be observed in the city. People are skillful and educated and most of them are factory employees. The city is rather quiet in the morning, but all charm of the city is restored in the evening. The hustle bustle of people for evening walks, children and elders playing games in playing grounds and elderly sitting on grass gardens add to the beauty of city. The city is said to have one of the best civic amenities in the entire country with a solid health care and education system.

Wah Cantt is divided into 27 sectors and some private housing colonies. The commonly known colonies are Chachi Mohallah, Officer's colony Basti/Lala Rukh Shahwali Colony, Lala Zar, Gulistan colony, Shadaman Town and AC Wah. Popular markets include Aslam market, Basti market, Anwaar chowk, Laiq Ali chowk Munirabad, Asifaabad, Ahmed Nagar and Nawab Abad. This city is distinguished because of a very high standard of education. Literacy rate is approximately 96%.The Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz said “Wah Cantt possessed ideal education and health facilities and I am impressed with the 96 per cent literary rate in this city”. 115 educational institutes serve over 50,000 students.

Wah also has 'Senior Citizen Foundation of Pakistan - Wah Chapter' office. The organization is devoted to the welfare of the senior citizens of Wah. The President Mr. Durrani and Secretary General Mr. Fazal Hussain Awan, and executive committee of the organization are providing dedicated services to the senior citizens of Wah. Some of their prominent contribution to the Senior Citizens in Wah are:-

Besides the organization also holds quarterly and annual functions wherein the Chairman POF Board and other officials participate and encourage the activities of aging citizens.

Sports
People of this city are highly interested in sports especially in cricket. There are a number of grounds, about 300 small and big ones where different games are in proceeding all the time. Even in Ramzan sometimes people old up to 50 are found engaged in playing while above 70's watching them and rising appraisals.

F.G Science Degree College's basketball team is champion of All Pakistan basketball championship last 9 times consecutively

Wah has a hockey field laid with Astro Turf, one of the earliest examples of it in this once hockey-mad nation. The Hockey Stadium at Welfare Club (near Anwar Chowk) is a sad reminder of the glory days of Pakistani hockey when the country was an undisputed champion and a recognized super power in this game. Moreover, the CB Ground (near Barrier 3) is also be used for cricket.

Welfare Clubnow known as POF Sports Complex also has an indoor sports arena as well as a swimming pool. Another swimming facility is located at Ordnance Club near Aslam Market.

Wah also has a Golf Course named "POF Golf Course". Currently the number one ranked Player on this course is Mr Rehan Akhtar from Rawalpindi. (BY Waqas Javed) The savior of Pakistan hockey who brought home a gold in 68 Olympics, Zakir Hussain,belonged to Wah Cantt...."Zakir Hussain (born 1934,Lahore) is a Pakistani field hockey player. He was born in Lahore. He won a gold medal at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City, and a silver medal at the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne"

Defense
The Pakistan Ordnance Factories (POF), is responsible for conventional weapons production and is located in Wah Cantonment. POF is a government organization operating under the defense Production Division in Pakistan’s Ministry of defense. POF is a complex of arms and ammunition manufacturing factories employing more than 40,000 personnel. POF has provided weapons and ammunition to the Pakistan Army and all their foreign clients. However, since POF can not produce the complete inventory of the Pakistani Army's armament needs, a high content of the Armed Force requirements are imported. POF produces approximately 70 major products for supply to Army, Navy and Air Force. The main products include automatic rifle; light medium and heavy machine guns, complete range of mortar and artillery ammunition, aircraft ammunition and anti-aircraft ammunition, tank ammunition and anti-tank ammunition, bombs, grenades, land mines, pyrotechnics and signal stores etc. It also has a clothing factory which supplies uniforms to the armed personnel.

Education
Wah has a remarkably high literacy rate. This small city has two chartered universities, one medical college, one engineering college and a large number of schools. Wah Cantt has the highest literacy rate in all of Pakistan. Students from Wah Cantt can be found studying at all the institutes of Pakistan and most major universities of the world. Wah Cantt also has the largest number of bi-cycles than any city in Pakistan. This links the city with its past as, historically, the neighboring town of Taxila had been a seat of learning for thousands of years.

In the very beginning,the administration of Wah Cantt made one decision: NO STUDENT WILL BE LEFT OUT OF SCHOOL DUE TO CAPACITY LIMITATIONS. One of the stalwarts from early days, an icon, Mr. Qadeer Khan still lives in Wah Cantt and continues to be a source of inspiration for the citizens.Having an area of no more than 30 square kilometres (approx.), Wah Cantt has the highest number of educational institutes per square kilometer in the country. Apart from a large number of private and government schools/colleges, foundations of professional universities have been laid down in past 5 years.F.G Degree College For Men, Apex Institute of Skills Wah Cantt Sir Syed College Wah Cantt Wah Medical College, University of Wah - which includes Wah Engineering College & Mishal College for Women, COMSATS Institute of Information and Technology are among the big institutes in Wah Cantt. In the private sector, Wah Swedish Institute of Technology, Rawalpindi College of Commerce and Rawalpindi Institute of Technology are popular technical education institutes. Zarghoona College for Women and F.G Post Graduate College For Women are some prominent women colleges. In government sector there is Technical Training Institute (TTI), a center of technical training. People qualified from this college serve not only in the POFs but also work in the Middle East and send valuable foreign exchange.

Some important Institutes:
 * Aptech Computer Education, Wah Cantt.
 * Apex Institute of Skills
 * Islamabad College of Management and Commerce(ICMC), Wah Cantt
 * .F.G Degree College For Men
 * C.B. School No. 1 Officer's Colony Wah Cantt
 * C.B. School No. 2 Nawababad Wah Cantt
 * C.B. School No. 2 Officer's Colony Wah Cantt
 * Roots International Schools, Wah Campus
 * Froebels, Wah Campus
 * Lahore Grammer School, Wah Campus
 * COMSATS Institute of Information Technology, Wah Campus
 * Kenshu Institute of Virtual University
 * Lalarukh Model School
 * MASHAL Post Graduate College
 * Nasheman School for Special Education.
 * Wah Medical College
 * P.O.F. Model High School
 * F.G. Post Graduate Girls College
 * F.G. Post Graduate Boys College
 * F G. Public High School
 * F.G. Model High School
 * F.G. Girls High School No. 1
 * F.G. Girls High School No. 2
 * F.G. Girls High School No. 3
 * F.G. Girls High School No. 4
 * F.G. Girls High School No. 5
 * F.G. Boys High School No. 6
 * F.G. Boys High School No. 7
 * F.G. Boys High School No. 8
 * F.G. Boys High School No. 9
 * F.G. Boys High School No. 10
 * F.G. Boys High School No. 11
 * F.G. Girls High School No. 12
 * F.G. Science Degree College
 * POF Institute of Technology (POFIT)
 * Beaconhouse School System
 * Sir Syed College
 * Swedish Institute of Engineering & Technology
 * Wah Engineering College
 * University of Wah
 * Zarghoona College for Women

There is a high competition to get admission at HSSC level in pre-medical and pre-engineering groups in F.G. and F.G Science Degree College for both men and women: Two for men and one post graduate college for women, as they are the most well established government colleges in Wah Cantt. Being a student of these colleges is thought of as an honour in the city. Then, there are other schools like St. Paul High School, Margalla Grammar School, Wah Grammar school, Lahore Grammar School, Organon, Wah City School, PICS Model School and also BSS (Beacon House School System) and numerous other schools from Montessori to "O" and "A" levels.

Commerce learning was introduced by Sir Ayub Khattak in Wah Cantt, an institution in himself, reputed to be a humble human being and a great sports lover. He had done remarkable development in commerce and finance studies in Wah Cantt. On 20 July 2010 he passed away in a tragic accident near Khanpur dam.(May Allah bless his soul). He will remain in our hearts and thoughts forever because of his contributions towards promotion of commerce studies in Wah Cantt. F.G. Boys Public High school is considered as one of the best High Schools in Wah Cantt. In 2012 A student named Abdul Wasay Iklaq of this institution got 517 marks in SSC-1 examination which is a record of Federal Board examination marks. The chalice for best seat of learning stays with Sir Syed High School / Sir Syed College; the graduates from this institution are serving humanity in every respect throughout the world. The bonds established in the schools of Wah Cantt still continue to be strengthened though some graduates left the area some 3 to 4 decades ago.

Squash
The 1st POF WISPA Squash Tournament was hosted at Jahangir Khan Squash Complex Wah Cantt from 28 August to 2 September 2005. The tournament carried a prize purse of US$ 7,000/- and players from Pakistan, England, Korea, Denmark and Malaysia took part in it. Top seeded Carla Khan of Pakistan won the championship beating No 2 seeded Sharon Wee of Malaysia in the final. President World Squash Federation, Mr Jahangir Khan graced the concluding ceremony as the chief guest.

Transport
Wah Cantt offers a unique type of transport to its residents. The transport network is called The POF Welfare Transport and it runs buses and coaches (about 200 in number) on 7 different routes all over the city. And for the first time in Pakistan, this welfare transport service recruited women bus conductors for its ladies customers.

Dental Health
Due to high literacy, people are well aware of their dental health in wah cantt. People are being facilitated by private and public Dental clinics.HAPPY TEETH Dental Clinic is the one besides other good dental clinics in wah cantt.