On its 18th birthday, Rawalpindi Gymkhana, which has almost 800 members, is getting a makeover, a new block, and a range of facilities to keep the high society entertained. The facelift has also caught the attention of the affluent class which had been demanding a ‘worthwhile’ centre for social activities.

During the colonial period, Rawalpindi used to have a club called ‘Rawalpindi Club’ adjacent to General Headquarters (GHQ) on The Mall and remained functional until the ‘90s. Eventually, the club was shut down as the army owned the land and premises.

The club which mostly caters to the elites aims to foster interaction between people from various backgrounds, but there have been demands to make it more inclusive by adding artists and intellectuals as its members.

The idea to establish a Gymkhana in Rawalpindi was hatched during late military dictator Pervez Musharraf’s tenure and then-district mayor Raja Tariq Kiani vacated an official residence for the purpose.

The building located in Civil Lines (Rashid Minhas Road) was the old Commissioner’s House constructed in the last decade of the 19th century to house divisional heads of the administration. It became functional in Aug 2005.

Right next to the palatial compound are the Punjab Governor Annexe, Punjab House, and official residences of district administration and local police high-ups. The building was spread over 96 kanal but after the construction of residences for state officials and other development works, it was reduced to 56 kanal.

The idea to breathe a new life into Gymkhana is the brainchild of Commissioner Liaquat Chatha, who decided to introduce new facilities and make the club fully functional. Mr Chatha has a knack for Gymkhanas –in Gujrat, Sargodha, and Dera Ghazi Khan, he developed three clubs; in Faisalabad, he expanded Chenab Club and introduced new facilities.

After years of neglect by the administration, the club had been reduced to a meeting spot for traders and some government officials. After he took over as Rawalpindi’s administrator, Mr Chatha decided to make it popular among people. In June this year, Caretaker Chief Minister Mohsin Naqvi inaugurated the work and asked the administration to complete the work within three months.

The commission told Dawn that gymkhana clubs had been formed in Punjab under a “self-help model, which is successful”. Speaking about the construction of a new block at the club, he said that the Potohar enclosure would be completed in a “record short period”. He said that under the project, “38 rooms for guests are being constructed with the support of the citizens and business community of Rawalpindi at a total cost of Rs550 million”. He said the new enclosure includes a library, dining halls, a coffee shop, a grand cinema, a sports lounge, a snooker room, and a fun zone for children.

Mr Chatha said it was impossible to establish such an institution without government patronage as it requires “large investment in land and finance”.

“If we look at Lahore, the present premises of Gymkhana Club were provided free of cost by the government on a long lease,” he said, adding that it was the duty of the administration to provide an enabling environment for social and cultural activities.

Published in Dawn, August 27th, 2023