Tag: Islamabad Club

  • No room for your second or third wife at Islamabad Club

    No room for your second or third wife at Islamabad Club

    In an interesting development, the Senate Standing Committee on Cabinet Divisions debated diverse topics this week, including the Cabinet Division’s luxuries, restrictions on the entry of its members’ second wives into the Islamabad Club, and Chahat Fateh Ali Khan’s charisma.

    The committee was informed that the Cabinet Division had 18 bullet-proof vehicles and six helicopters, an aviation squadron, Toshakhana gifts as well as the power to declare national public holidays.

    Saleem Mandviwala pointed out the apparent unfair rule by an Islamabad Club, which doesn’t recognise a member’s second or third wife and hence doesn’t allow them to enter the premises. The committee recognised the “significance” of the issue because Islam permits men to have four marriages.

    The members were informed about the government’s changes in the procedure for giving away civil awards.

    “For civil awards, it is evaluated now that the recipient has done more than usual work in his or her field,” the Cabinet Division special secretary told the committee. “Singers are also considered for awards based on the views of their YouTube videos,” he added.

    Reacting to this, Committee member Aamir Chishti asked the Secretary whether famous internet personality Chahat Fatteh Ali Khan’s song ‘Bado Badi’ would be considered for an award – given its number of views on YouTube.

    In a hilarious moment, Aamir Chishti then turned to the committee chair, Rana Mahmoodul Hasan and asked him if he had heard the song, to which he replied, “I have. It gave me a headache.”

  • No suit, no service; Islamabad club will not entertain you if you’re wearing a dhoti

    Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Member National Assembly (MNA) and member Public Accounts Committee (PAC) Sheikh Rohail Asghar was denied service at the Islamabad Club for wearing a Dhoti, the traditional Punjabi attire.

    Expressing his anger, Asghar said, “Shalwar Kameez is our national dress and Dhoti a cultural dress. If I don’t wear a suit, then no one serves food in the club.” He tainted the club’s management, remarking that the British left the country, but their “remnants” still followed their rules.

    The club’s secretary said that a formal dress code was applicable in the formal dining hall, as it was part of the club’s tradition and hence Asghar was denied service. He observed that Islamabad Club is not a cultural club.

    PAC directed the management of Islamabad Club to call a board meeting to review the dress code and resolve the issue. There were also concerns over the financial affairs of the Islamabad Club and the committee sought an audit report in the next meeting.

  • ‘Humble Gen Bajwa waits in line for omelette brunch at Islamabad Club’, meets PML-N’s Zubair again

    Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa had Sunday brunch with his family at Islamabad Club and freely mingled up with other guests present there, The News has reported.

    According to the report as well as a letter to a local English daily by an eyewitness, the army chief of the world’s tenth strongest military seemed to direct the staff to remove all special arrangements that had been put up for him and his family ahead of their arrival.

    “At the omelette station, the waiting line was rather long. It was so heartening to see that Gen Bajwa stood in the queue (me and my family noticed with surprise and delight) for about 18 minutes before he was served with his omelette (no one wanted to give him his slot nor did the general ask for [it], he was totally comfortable),” read the letter.

    The letter went on to claim that Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Muhammad Zubair, who had in the recent past made headlines for meeting military leadership despite his party’s strained relations with the establishment, and his family “were the only people who were not allowed to meet the general”.

    However, the PML-N leader rubbished the claim in conversation with The Current. “I met him with his family. We exchanged pleasantries for about 10 minutes. And that’s it. More than 150 people present there watched it all,” he said.

    “Why wouldn’t he meet me?” he went on to ask.

  • Islamabad Club pays govt Rs3 per acre in rent

    Islamabad Club pays govt Rs3 per acre in rent

    The Islamabad Club that stretches over 352 acres of land leased to it by the government over half a century ago pays only Rs3 per acre (an acre is equal to 8 kanal) as rent.

    The lease agreement signed between the club administration and the government 53 years ago was supposed to be renewed after 10 years, but that never happened, a report in Daily Jang said.

    These details were revealed after a citizen moved the Pakistan Information Commission seeking details about the club.

    The application filed under the Right to Information Act by a citizen sought information on the finances of the club, its properties, members among other things. At this, the club administration said that it was not bound to provide the required information to the applicant.

    The matter was then taken to the Pakistan Information Commission that asked the club to provide the said information as it was built on land leased by the government.

    Islamabad Club administrator Ahmad Nawaz Shukhera told the PIC that the club was not run by the taxpayers’ money as it sustains itself through membership fees.

    He also said that the club was not bound to provide the required information because the application was not a member of the club.

    When asked about the government funding, Sukhera said the club was built on land leased by the Capital Development Authority and it pays an annual rent of Rs14,700 for the 352-acre piece of land. The rent disclosed by the administration means that the club pays merely Rs14,700 for the massive tract of land i.e. Rs3 per acre.

    According to the website of the Islamabad Club, it was established in the year 1967 to provide recreational and sports facilities to the government servants, diplomats and other inhabitants of Islamabad.

    It was initially registered as a limited company, titled “The Islamabad Club” under the Companies Act of 1913.  “In 1978, through the Presidential Ordinance No. XXXIII of 17th July 1978, the Club ownership was resumed by the Government of Pakistan and the Company was dissolved. Since then, Club is operating under the said Ordinance (Club Ordinance),” the website adds.

    In Sept 2019, Pakistan Today reported that the club was found involved in “irregularities such as illegal appointments, illegal investments, operating of illegal bank accounts, illegal membership and the construction of buildings without government approval”.