Karachi's Hindu Gymkhana: An example of Mughal architecture and a cultural center of the Hindu community.

Author, Rasheed Shakur

Designation, Senior Journalist, Karachi for BBC Hindi

Published 1 hour ago

Reading Time: 10 minutes

It is not possible for anyone passing by the historic building of Hindu Gymkhana in Karachi to move ahead without glancing at it.

There is such an attraction in this building which attracts everyone towards itself.

On seeing this the mind goes towards the Mughal era.

For this reason, it is said with full confidence that this was the first building in Karachi which was built in the Mughal style.

architecture

Hindu Gymkhana was constructed on the basis of the plan prepared by Agha Ahmed Hussain. It is said that he was the first Muslim architect of Karachi.

He also prepared the plan of Mohatta Palace, another historical building of Karachi.

It is said that the design of Hindu Gymkhana was inspired by the tomb of Itmad-ud-Daula located in Agra.

Stones were brought from Bijapur for the construction of walls. The dome-like chhatris on the exterior of the building's roof are inspired by Fatehpur Sikri built by Mughal emperor Akbar.

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Chhatris have been built over the octagonal corner minarets that surround the main raised window on both sides. These clearly show the influence of Rajasthani architecture.

Small umbrellas have been made at the corners of the verandah. All these were characteristics of the architectural style that was prevalent during the era of Mughal emperor Akbar.

Social and Cultural Center

The British Government had given land on a 100-year lease for the Hindu Gymkhana in 1921. The construction of its building was completed in 1925.

Hindu Gymkhana was built by the Hindu community. Seth Ram Gopal Govardhan Das Mohatta had the lead role in it. For this reason it was named after him. His name is still prominently visible on this building.

Seth Gopal Govardhan Das Mohatta's grandfather Shivratan Chandraratan Mohatta had built the historic Mohatta Palace in Karachi. Now a museum exists there.

The main objective of the construction of Hindu Gymkhana was to provide a place to the Hindu community of that time, where they could continue their social and cultural activities.

At that time Hindu Gymkhana was like a club for the upper class Hindus of Karachi. However, there is no data available about the number of members of Hindu Gymkhana at that time. But it is definitely recorded in the history books that it was a leader in social and cultural activities during that period.

Hindu Indian Test cricketer from Karachi

After its establishment, Hindu Gymkhana was not just a center of social and cultural activities. He was also very active in sports activities at that time.

It had its own ground at that time. Various sports competitions were held there.

However, no first class match was ever played on this ground. At that time, first class matches in Karachi used to be held in Karachi Gymkhana.

But the cricketers got constant encouragement from the stage of Hindu Gymkhana. The name of Naomal Geomal is also included in these.

Before the formation of Pakistan, many Hindu cricketers born in Karachi played first class cricket in that era.

But there were four Hindu cricketers who were born in Karachi before the formation of Pakistan and played Test cricket for India. One of them also became the captain of the Indian team.

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Naomal Geomal

Naomal Geomal, born on 17 April 1904 in Karachi, has the honor of being the opener of the team that played India's first Test match at Lord's in 1932.

His performance in the first class matches played in that tour was very good. He had scored the most runs after CK Nayudu. However, he could play only three Test matches in his career.

He started his first class career with a match played against MCC at Karachi Gymkhana.

Incidentally, his last first class match was also played on the same ground in Karachi.

Naomal had scored seven centuries in his first class career.

His deep love for Karachi always remained. This can be gauged from the fact that even after the formation of Pakistan, he did not consider it appropriate to leave Karachi.

He continued coaching in Karachi and was also a selector.

Apart from this, he also umpired in five matches of Quaid-e-Azam Trophy, the biggest tournament of first class cricket in Pakistan.

He went to India in 1971. He died there on 18 July 1980 at the age of 76.

His son Hari Naumal also played three first-class matches for Karachi and Karachi Universities.

Interestingly, in the match in which Hari Naomal started his first class career, one of the umpires in that match was his father Naomal Geomal.

Hari Naomal now lives in Munabao, Rajasthan at the age of 86.

Pannan Mal Punjabi

Born in Karachi, Pannan Mal Punjabi played the initial part of his first class cricket career in Karachi. Later he went to India.

That moment was very emotional for him, when he came to Pakistan with Vinoo Mankad's team in 1954-55. He also played his last test in Karachi only.

Gogumal Kishanchand

Gogumal Kishanchand played five test matches for India. He became known for his excellent batting in school cricket in Karachi.

He had scored 15 centuries in first class cricket. He had gone to India before the formation of Pakistan. He died in 1997 in Baroda (now Vadodara).

Kishan Chand is remembered for a special reason. In a four-day match in Sydney in 1947-48, Sir Don Bradman completed his 100th century in first-class cricket by taking one run off his ball.

Gulab Rai Ramchand

Among these four Hindu Test cricketers born in Karachi, Gulab Rai Ramchand also got the honor of captaining India in Test cricket.

He played more test matches than the other three cricketers, i.e. 33.

He started his first class career in December 1945 in Karachi. Although later he went to India.

He was part of the Indian team that toured Pakistan in 1954-55. The last test of this series was played at the National Stadium in Karachi.

In this match, Ramchand had the best bowling performance of his Test career and took six wickets.

Order to demolish Hindu Gymkhana

After the formation of Pakistan, a large number of Hindus went to India. Therefore, the control of Hindu Gymkhana also came to the Government of Pakistan.

With time its land was given to different institutions for different purposes.

In the sixties, Bhagwan Das Chawla, Seth Motan Das and Khubchand Bhatia had also launched a movement to hand over the Hindu Gymkhana to the Hindu community.

According to government records presented in the courts, the original area of ​​the Hindu Gymkhana was 39,178 square yards. Which has now reduced to only 4,816 square yards.

During this period, 27,346 square yards of land was given to the police department. 6,700 square yards of land was given to the Federal Service Commission. Aligarh Muslim University Old Boys Association was given 4,164 square yards of land.

Aligarh Muslim University Old Boys Association had paid for it in full.

Not only this, during the era of military ruler Zia-ul-Haq, a decision was taken to sell the Hindu Gymkhana building and even demolish it.

The reason given for this was that the condition of the building had deteriorated. Therefore it should be dropped.

The Heritage Foundation intervened in time before any trace of the Hindu Gymkhana could be erased. In this way the building was saved from demolition.

After this, the building of Hindu Gymkhana remained intact, but a dispute arose regarding its ownership rights and its handing over.

This matter is still pending in the Supreme Court.

Ashok Motwani, vice president of Shri Ratneshwar Mahadev Welfare Seva Mandali Samiti, located in Clifton area of ​​Karachi, told BBC News Hindi, "In 2005, during the tenure of General Pervez Musharraf, as a special favor to Zia Mohiuddin, the original status of Hindu Gymkhana was abolished. The National Academy of Performing Arts was established there and he was made the head of this academy."

It is important to mention here that in this academy, theater and music education is given under a three-year diploma course.

At present 111 students are studying in this academy.

Dr. Ashok Motwani says, "In 2007, we had filed a petition in the Sindh High Court to hand over the Hindu Gymkhana to the Hindus and remove the academy from here. After this, the matter went to the Supreme Court."

"This matter is pending in the Supreme Court since 2014. Our petition was that the Hindu Gymkhana should be used for the purpose for which it was built."

It is also important to mention that in 2008, the Sindh government had sent a notice to the National Academy of Performing Arts, briefly known as 'NAPA'.

The notice asked him to vacate the building as he had allegedly carried out construction work inside the building, which was not permitted under the agreement.

NAPA had denied any kind of illegal construction in the building.

In 2018, the court had also ordered to shift NAPA to some other place. However, this could not be implemented.

Dr. Motwani says, "We had also given some suggestions to the Supreme Court in this regard. We had said that whatever is left should be given to the Hindu community so that we can resume our cultural and social activities."

"If the government wants, it can also include one of its representatives in it. We only want to see the Hindu Gymkhana again in its original form. We are also citizens of Pakistan. We have not left this earth and are staying here."

Dr. Motwani says, "Under the order of the Supreme Court, we keep organizing programs in the NAPA building on the occasion of our special festivals. For this we have to apply and take permission from the Sindh government."

It is noteworthy that at present there are two big centers for private members in Karachi in the form of Karachi Gymkhana and Karachi Club.

Both these institutions are famous for social, cultural and sports activities.

There are a large number of Hindu members in both these clubs. They participate enthusiastically in every activity happening there.

But the sad thing is that they do not have any separate and private place of their own to do all this.