New Delhi: Pakistan unveiled the biggest sculpture of its national animal on Wednesday. But Pakistanis are worried—what if the TTP finds it ‘un-Islamic’ and decides to blow it up? Others are angry. They do not approve of Pakistan installing idols, even if it is of a goat.
The markhor, also known as the screw-horned goat, is the national animal of Pakistan and is seen as a symbol of strength and resilience as well as a part of its natural heritage. They are found in the mountainous regions of Chitral, Kohistan and Kalam in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Gilgit Baltistan and Balochistan and are known for their spiral horns which can exceed 1.5 metres in length.
The world’s largest sculpture of the markhor has been unveiled in the country’s Kaghan Valley. The 105-foot-high and 38-foot-wide structure reportedly took five years to complete and was done by engineer Muhammad Shehzad.
‘Un-Islamic acts’
But Pakistanis have concerns. They have deemed such acts as ‘un-Islamic’.
“Pakistan so called islamic republic wholely invested in frivolous, unnecessary and unislamic activity. Installing idols instead of paying attention to the situation of millions of pakistanis leaving the country for abroad (sic),” Pakistani X user Hammad Shakil declared.
Another user, Abdullah simply said, “Ye paise mujhe dedo (Give this money to me)”.
The markhor has had an IUCN status of nearly extinct since 2015 and Pakistan has hardly done anything to preserve its national animal. The irony is not lost on Pakistanis.
“population tou preserve kar nahi saktey at least sculpture ki form mein memory hi preserve kar letey hein (we can’t preserve the population, let us at least preserve memories in the form of sculpture),” an X user wrote.
Most however, were full of praise for the sculpture and chided the local government for not doing enough of such work.
“Appreciation for whoever brought this project to life. It’s clearly not backed by the government, which shows that ordinary people like us also carry the responsibility. I hope we see more projects like this in the future that can generate revenue and boost tourism,” X user Sayyid Gelani wrote.
Other X users hope the citizens would not desecrate the sculpture with ads.
“Good job man whosoever did it. Paki people, not our time to put Baba Bengali ads on it,” X user Inam Khattak wrote. “Baba Bengali” ads are a form of fraudulent advertising seen in newspapers and on posters across South Asia used by scammers posing as spiritual healers.
In all of this, Pakistanis did not forget to make fun of their ministers. An October 2025 viral video showed Pakistan education minister Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui, being unable to name the national animal and eventually calling it a ‘Mark four’.
X user Shireen Khan tagged the Education minister and said, “hopefully now you won’t forget Pakistan’s national animal”
Another user, Mobeen Awan, sarcastically declared this the moment of Islamic renaissance.
“It must be an Islamic Sculpture of a Halal mountain goat. Islamic Renaissance at last,” he wrote.
(Edited by Theres Sudeep)