Pakistan’s celebrated fashion designer Deepak Perwani has set social media alight with an unusually blunt comparison of the country’s two biggest cities — calling Lahore “just beautiful” and “a different level” while describing Karachi as “dark, depressing, potholed and ugly”. The post quickly reached Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz, whose two-word reply is now going viral across the country: “Most welcome bro.”
What Perwani Wrote About Lahore — and Karachi
Taking to X on Tuesday, Perwani shared his admiration for several prominent Lahore landmarks — the Central Business District (CBD), MM Alam Road, Main Boulevard and the road leading to the airport. What struck him most was the city’s network of underpasses, landscaping and greenery, which he said had given Lahore a completely different appearance.
Then came the comparison, and he did not hold back. “While #karachi is dark depressing potholed and ugly! Definitely left behind,” he wrote, adding that it might be “Time to move to #lahore”. The full post read:
“Time to move to #lahore just beautiful #cbd #mmalam #mainboulevard and the entrance to the airport just a different level. Beautiful underpasses greenery. While #karachi is dark depressing potholed and ugly! Definitely left behind.”
Maryam Nawaz’s Reply Takes the Internet by Storm
It did not take long for the Punjab chief minister to join the conversation. Replying directly to Perwani’s post on X, Maryam Nawaz kept it short, warm and witty: “Most welcome bro.”
The exchange spread like wildfire on Pakistani social media — screenshots of the reply racked up thousands of shares within hours. For her supporters, it was the kind of quick-witted online moment that turns a policy achievement into a headline. For many Karachi residents, it stung just a little — their city’s condition being described so harshly, and then laughed along with, by the chief minister of another province.
The Lahore Projects That Won Him Over
The places Perwani praised are the visible face of Lahore’s recent development push. The Central Business District, built around the former Walton airport area, has been reshaped by the Route-47 corridor project — connecting Kalma Chowk and Gulberg with Walton Road through the new CBD Main Boulevard and a flyover.
The roughly Rs13 billion infrastructure scheme includes the remodelling of Kalma Chowk, where two new underpasses have been built — one linking to the CBD and another connecting Centre Point with Firdous Market. Beyond roads, the scheme covers sewerage, water supply, telephone and gas lines, green spaces, parking facilities and commercial plazas, all intended to support what planners describe as the country’s first skyline of modern high-rises.
These are the underpasses, boulevards and green verges that left Perwani — a designer who notices aesthetics for a living — so impressed.
Karachi Fights Back: the Development Debate Heats Up
Karachi’s defenders were not going to take the designer’s verdict quietly. Thousands of Karachiites pushed back on social media, arguing that comparing the two cities is unfair — Karachi is nearly twice Lahore’s size, houses a far more complex mix of federal, provincial and municipal authorities, and carries the weight of being the country’s economic engine.
Others made a different point: Lahore’s transformation was not an accident. It was the result of years of sustained, focused investment and political ownership — exactly what Karachi has lacked. Pointing to the Sindh government’s own announcements of funding for road rehabilitation and traffic improvements, many asked why that money so rarely shows up on the ground.
One Post, One Big Question
Deepak Perwani is not a city planner or a politician — he is a fashion designer who was moved by what he saw through a car window. But his post has done what months of press releases could not: it has put the Karachi–Lahore development gap back at the centre of the national conversation, in language everyone understands.
Whether the designer actually packs his bags for Lahore remains to be seen. But with Maryam Nawaz’s “Most welcome bro” already the quote of the week, one thing is certain — the debate over who is building the better Pakistan is only getting louder.
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