The Hindu Gymkhana ( Sindhi:هندو جمخانه; ) is a colonial-era building located on Sarwar Shaheed Road in

Karachi Karachi (; ur, ; ; ) is the most populous city in Pakistan and 12th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 20 million. It is situated at the southern tip of the country along the Arabian Sea coast. It is the former ...

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 243 million people, and has the world's second-la ...

. It was the first public building in Karachi to adopt the Mughal-Revival architectural style. It was established in 1925 by the Karachi's Hindus as an exclusive club for their community. The building houses the

National Academy of Performing Arts The National Academy of Performing Arts ( ur, ; abbreviated as NAPA) is a performing arts school located at Hindu Gymkhana in Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan. NAPA was established in 2005 as an institution to conserve and teach performing arts and m ...

.Hindu Gymkhana on archnet.org website
Retrieved 19 May 2020Hindu Gymkhana as archaeological site
Dawn (newspaper), Published 3 April 2012, Retrieved 19 May 2020

History

The Hindu Gymkhana was established by the Seth Ramgopal Gourdhanandh Mohatta and the Hindu community in 1925 on a plot of 47,000 square yards. It was designed by Agha Ahmed Hussain. It was named Seth Ramgopal Goverdhandas Mohatta Hindu Gymkhana at that time. After the Independence, the Hindu Gymkhana was taken over by the

Evacuee Trust Property Board The Evacuee Trust Property Board, ( ur, ) a statutory board of the Government of Pakistan, is a key government department which administers evacuee properties, including educational, charitable or religious trusts left behind by Hindus and Sik ...

. In 1978, about 60 per cent the land of Hindu Gymkhana was given to the Police Department and another 6000 square yards were given to the

Federal Public Service Commission The Federal Public Service Commission (FPSC) ( ur, ) is a federal agency of Government of Pakistan that is responsible for recruiting civil servants and bureaucrats for Government of Pakistan. History The Public Service Commission was se ...

. Later, 3500 square yards were given to the Ali Garh Muslim University and another 400 square yards was allotted to Abdul Majeed Khan received almost of land as an allotment. Currently it has only 4,500 square yards of land compared to 47,000 square yards in 1925. The building's condition deteriorated over the years, and it was almost demolished in 1984. It was protected by the intervention of the Heritage Foundation of Pakistan. In 2005, the Pakistan president

Pervez Musharraf General Pervez Musharraf ( ur, , Parvez Muśharraf; born 11 August 1943) is a former Pakistani politician and four-star general of the Pakistan Army who became the tenth president of Pakistan after the successful military takeover of the ...

handed the building over to

The Hindu Gymkhana now houses Pakistan's

(NAPA) and is run by its chief

Zia Mohyeddin Zia Mohyeddin (; born 20 June 1931) is a British-Pakistani actor, producer, director and television broadcaster who has appeared in both Pakistani cinema and television as well as in British cinema and television throughout his career. Zia ...

– a prominent stage and

Pakistani television Television in Pakistan started in 1964 and the first live transmission of Pakistan Television began on 26 November 1964, in Lahore. The building was designed by architect Agha Ahmed Hussain, with a design based on the tomb of Itamad-ud-Daulah (1628) in

Agra Agra (, ) is a city on the banks of the Yamuna river in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, about south-east of the national capital New Delhi and 330 km west of the state capital Lucknow. With a population of roughly 1.6 million, Agra i ...

. The building is small in size (on a plot of land measuring 47,000 square yards) and consists primarily of a hall and some smaller rooms used for administrative purposes. Stone for the walls was acquired in

Bijapur Bijapur, officially known as Vijayapura, is the district headquarters of Bijapur district of the Karnataka state of India. It is also the headquarters for Bijapur Taluk. Bijapur city is well known for its historical monuments of architectural i ...

. The roof line is defined by delicate massing of cupolas and balustrades directly influenced by

Akbar Abu'l-Fath Jalal-ud-din Muhammad Akbar (25 October 1542 – 27 October 1605), popularly known as Akbar the Great ( fa, ), and also as Akbar I (), was the third Mughal emperor, who reigned from 1556 to 1605. Akbar succeeded his father, Hum ...

Fatehpur Sikri Fatehpur Sikri () is a town in the Agra District of Uttar Pradesh, India. Situated 35.7 kilometres from the district headquarters of Agra, Fatehpur Sikri itself was founded as the capital of Mughal Empire in 1571 by Emperor Akbar, serving this ...

. The octagonal corner towers framing the projecting central jharoka are capped with chattris, highlighting the influence of Rajasthani Style of Palaces. Smaller chattris highlight the corners of the projecting porch that carry the drooping bangladar roof used in Emperor Akbar's period. The projecting ''chajjas'' are supported by ornamental brackets. The cupolas of the chattris are reinforced concrete and the walls are dressed in Gizri stone. Some of the carved elements are of Jodhpur stone.

Protected Sindh Cultural Heritage building

This historic building is widely considered to be an architectural gem in

and is protected under the Sindh Cultural Heritage Protection Act. Therefore, nobody is allowed to carry out new construction, repairs, renovations in this building without the approval of Karachi Building Control Authority and the

Government of Sindh The Government of Sindh ( sd, حڪومت سنڌ) ( ur, ) is the provincial government of the province of Sindh, Pakistan. Its powers and structure are set out in the provisions of the 1973 Constitution, in which 30 Districts of 7 Divisions u ...

. Surprisingly a historical building like this had deteriorated due to lack of maintenance in the recent past and was going to be demolished in 1984 but the Heritage Foundation Pakistan back then intervened to save it.

Relocation of NAPA ordered

In December 2018, The

Supreme Court of Pakistan The Supreme Court of Pakistan ( ur, ; ''Adālat-e-Uzma Pākistān'') is the apex court in the judicial hierarchy of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. Established in accordance to thePart VIIof the Constitution of Pakistan, it has ultimate ...

had directed the Sindh government to shift NAPA to another location from this Hindu Gymkhana building but, as of 11 February 2020, compliance to this directive could not be made and NAPA was still functioning there.

Movements by Hindu community to get back Hindu Gymkhana

The Hindu Gymkhana belonged to Hindus before Independence. The Hindu community of Karachi have no place in Karachi to celebrate religious festivals. In 1960, the first movement to handover Hindu Gymkhana back to the Hindu community was launched by activists Bhagwandas Chawla, Khubchand Bhatia and Seth T Motandas. However, the movement was ended due to the 1965 war. It was launched again but was ended due to the 1971 war. In 1980, the movement was launched again by Ramesh Mana co-chairperson of Pak-Hindu Welfare Association when the

Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq HI, GCSJ, ร.ม.ภ, (Urdu: ; 12 August 1924 – 17 August 1988) was a Pakistani four-star general and politician who became the sixth President of Pakistan following a coup and declaration of martial law in ...

government decided to sell the property. Later another movement was launched by P.K. Shahani, Hindu activist which compelled the parliamentarians to raise this issue in the Pakistan National Assembly and the Hindu Gymkhana was added on the list of heritage sites under the Sindh Heritage Act. But later the Pervez Musharraf’s government took over the Hindu Gymkhana and gave it to the National institute of performing arts(NAPA). In 2009, the

Pakistan People's Party The Pakistan People's Party ( ur, , ; PPP) is a centre-left, social-democratic political party in Pakistan. It is currently the third largest party in the National Assembly and second largest in the Senate of Pakistan. The party was founded i ...

protested when the president

handed over the Hindu Gymkhana to the NAPA. In 2009, the Sassui Palijo, Sindh’s Culture Minister said that the

hearing his relatives’ advice forcefully vacated the Hindu Gymkhana and handes it over to Napa. She added that the Hindu Gymkhana will be reserved for activities of the Hindu community. In 2014, the Pakistan Hindu Panchayat sent a letter to the Pakistan Chief Justice on the Hindu Gymkhana issue. In 2014, the Shree Ratheshawar Maha Dev Welfare approached the court for giving back the Hindu Gymkhana back to the Hindus.

References

External links