Islam Gymkhana, is a

gymkhana Gymkhana () ( ur, جِمخانہ, sd, جمخانه, hi, जिमख़ाना, as, জিমখানা, bn, জিমখানা) is a British Raj term which originally referred to a place of assembly. The meaning then altered to den ...

(social and sporting club) located along

Marine Drive Marine Drive may refer to: Roads Bangladesh * Cox Bazar-Tekhnaf Marine Drive, world's longest marine drive road. Canada *Marine Drive (Nova Scotia), a scenic route in Nova Scotia * Marine Drive (Greater Vancouver), a number of roadways in Metro ...

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...

. Land for the gymkhana was allotted by the then

Governor of Bombay Until the 18th century, Bombay consisted of seven islands separated by shallow sea. These seven islands were part of a larger archipelago in the Arabian sea, off the western coast of India. The date of city's founding is unclear—historians tr ...

Lord Harris Colonel George Robert Canning Harris, 4th Baron Harris, (3 February 1851 – 24 March 1932), generally known as Lord Harris, was a British colonial administrator and Governor of Bombay. He was also an English amateur cricketer, mainly active f ...

in 1890. Until 1942, the gymkhana was the headquarters of the Bombay Cricket Association of which it is a founding member. It is the headquarters of the Maharashtra State Billiards Association. The gymkhana membership is open to people from all communities and is no longer restricted to

Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

s. However, the gymkhana still hosts meetings of Muslim organisations. Islam Gymkhana fielded the ''Mohammedan XI'' during the

Bombay Quadrangular The Bombay Quadrangular was an influential cricket tournament held in Bombay, British India between 1892–93 and 1945–46. At other times it was known variously as the Presidency Match, Bombay Triangular, and the Bombay Pentangular. Presidency ...

and its successor

Bombay Pentangular The Bombay Quadrangular was an influential cricket tournament held in Bombay, British India between 1892–93 and 1945–46. At other times it was known variously as the Presidency Match, Bombay Triangular, and the Bombay Pentangular. Presidency ...

cricket tournaments. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, the government occupied the gymkhana premises as well as that of Parsi Gymkhana, forcing the adjacent

Hindu Gymkhana Hindu Gymkhana may mean: * Hindu Gymkhana, Karachi, a gymkhana in Karachi * Hindu Gymkhana, Mumbai, a gymkhana in Mumbai * Hindu Gymkhana, Pune, a gymkhana in Pune {{disambiguation ...

to offer membership to Muslims and

Parsi Parsis () or Parsees are an ethnoreligious group of the Indian subcontinent adhering to Zoroastrianism. They are descended from Persians who migrated to Medieval India during and after the Arab conquest of Iran (part of the early Muslim conq ...

s as an "emergency measure". The gymkhana has been identified as a Heritage Grade IIA structure. As the gymkhana land belongs to the collector, one of its lease conditions is that the grounds should be accessible by the general public and non-sporting activities such as weddings are allowed to be held at the ground for up to 30 days in the year. In 2010, the local residents association moved court to ban non-sporting activities at the ground, since the general public was being denied access to it, something which the gymkhana denied. In 2009, the gymkhana found itself in the centre of controversy when it removed

Abbas Kazmi Abbas Kazmi (born 18 May 1955) is a criminal lawyer who received wide media coverage for representing Ajmal Kasab, the prime accused in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks. He was a participant in Bigg Boss. Biography Kazmi first came to Mumbai as ...

as one of its trustees for defending

2008 Mumbai attacks The 2008 Mumbai attacks (also referred to as 26/11, pronounced "twenty six eleven") were a series of Terrorism, terrorist attacks that took place in November 2008, when 10 members of Lashkar-e-Taiba, an Islamist terrorist organisation from P ...

accused Mohammed Ajmal Amir Kasab in court. In 2011, the collector restricted non-sport events to 25 days a year only on weekdays.

References

{{Sports Clubs in Mumbai Sports clubs and teams in Mumbai 1890 establishments in British India Sports organizations established in 1890