The club was established under the Companies Act of 1913 in 1967. An area of 244.8 acres was leased to the club by the Capital Development Authority (CDA), which has over the years expanded to about 352 acres; approximately half of a sector, or two subsectors of the capital city.
In July 1978, through a Presidential Ordinance, the club ownership was resumed by the government and the company was dissolved. Since then, the club has been operating under the Club Ordinance as a statutory body. The club is presently under the administrative control of the Cabinet Division as an attached department of the government.
The administration and assets of the club are in the hands of an administrator appointed by the federal government who is aided and advised by a managing committee, which is also appointed by the federal government. This lingering legacy of the colonial rule has been faithfully retained by clubs all over the country with the objective of providing exclusivity to the ruling elite, and to keep the riff raff, kaala loag, also called the people, away from the rulers’ delicate beings.
During the initial years when Islamabad was being constructed and its future residents were being shifted from Karachi, foreign missions and embassies had also started relocating. There was a genuine need to have a place that may enable the foreigners to socialise and entertain themselves. For the lesser mortals, staff welfare centres were built.
During the early years, the club functioned very efficiently with its limited facilities. People would meet and gossip over a cup of this and a glass of that. As time passed and the city expanded, restrictions also increased. One such restriction was the prohibition, which forced the foreign missions to form their own ‘clubs’ on their own premises.
It is hard to understand why the club took over the cricket ground in F-9 park, which is a public space open to everyone, and access to any part of it cannot be denied to the users. Later, a polo ground was especially developed to satisfy the desires of one of its patrons who had earlier made attempts to have a polo ground even in the chief executive’s residence with stables for his beloved horses.
Lack of class and vision in its operators, the Islamabad Club started transmuting into an inexpensive eatery. All those who could afford a million rupees or more started finding entry into it. Besides, all members of parliament and their families were given the right to be club members. Not all of them brought manners and etiquettes to the table.
There is little the club management can do today except devolving the cricket academy to the relevant sports body and making a separate polo club for those who can afford to pay to play and to have the facility properly looked after. In fact, the golf club, too, should be turned into a body independent of the club.
ZUBAIR OSMANI
ISLAMABAD
