Bradlaugh Hall, hub of Indian freedom movement, now a crumbling ruin in Lahore

Short Url
Updated 15 August 2022
Follow

Bradlaugh Hall, hub of Indian freedom movement, now a crumbling ruin in Lahore

  • Named after British MP Charles Bradlaugh, Hall has birthed many political movements and anti-colonial revolutionaries
  • Since partition, building used as shelter for migrants, warehouse for iron merchants and grain silo for food department

LAHORE: When you take a left turn on Lower Mall Road in Lahore and go down Rattigan Road toward the ancient city’s district courts, you pass by an imposing red-brick building, a picture of neglect with its peeling paint and raggedy doors.

A plaque outside the desolate structure reads: “This building was called Bradlaugh Hall.”

Indeed, though the structure that was once Bradlaugh Hall is still there, the buildings’ grandeur and stature as a host to the veritable “who’s who” of the movement for the independence of India is a thing of the past. The resplendence of a great political history is today only a memory.

“For almost half a century, this hall would play host to Indians of all cast, creeds and religions and their political sessions, receptions, literary sittings and even mushairas (poetry conference),” Wajahat Masood, a veteran journalist and historian, told Arab News.




The pictue shows an inscription on a plaque made of stone in Bradlaugh Hall in Lahore, Pakistan, August 15, 2020. (Muhammad Imran Saeed/Facebook)

Seed money of Rs10,000 for Bradlaugh Hall was collected by Indian banker and activist Dayal Singh Majithia through a fundraiser at the Indian National Congress party’s annual session in Lahore in 1983, according to noted historian Dr. Tahir Kamran. The Congress party was the first modern nationalist movement to emerge in the British Empire in Asia and Africa.

“At the time, there were only two halls in Lahore, the Town Hall of the municipal office and Montgomery Hall in Lawrence Garden, which were owned by the government and not available for political events,” Kamran said.

Bradlaugh Hall, built at the tail end of the 19th century, was named after British MP Charles Bradlaugh (1833-1891), a notable freethinker of his era and a staunch supporter of the Indian struggle for independence from British rule. Bradlaugh wished for political activists of the time to have an administrative center where they could gather and discuss their political future.




The undated photo shows British MP Charles Bradlaugh. (Save Bradlaugh Hall, Lahore)

“Bradlaugh was a radical liberal of his time who vehemently advocated women voting rights, birth control laws and independence for Indians,” Kamran said. “Bradlaugh’s daughter wrote her father’s biography, in which she recalls him as an Indian.”

The Hall, which comprises several rooms, a pavilion and a vast area for public gatherings, was completed in 1900, nine years after Bradlaugh passed away in 1891. It was inaugurated by Congress President Surendranath Bannerji.

“PROMINENT POLITICAL HUB”

In its early years, the Hall “helped facilitate the labor and peasants’ movement, especially the influential movement of the peasants (known as “Pagri Sambhal Jatta”) of Lyallpur (Faisalabad), in 1905,” reporter Aown Ali wrote in 2015 in daily Dawn. 

“Later, in 1915, the ‘Ghadar Party’ also had its base in Bradlaugh Hall. By the 1920s, it had become well-known across India as a prominent political hub.”

Among those who visited and delivered speeches at the Hall are Allama Muhammad Iqbal, one of the subcontinent’s most celebrated poets, Maulana Zafar Ali Khan, a key member of the Pakistan Movement and widely considered ‘the father of Urdu journalism,’ and Jawaharlal Nehru, who would go on to become the first prime minister of India.

Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan and the leader for the movement for an independent homeland for the Muslims of India, also delivered at least one speech at Bradlaugh, on May 24, 1924, during the Khilafat Movement, a pro-Islamic campaign in the subcontinent to salvage the Ottoman Empire and its ruler after World War 1.

According to Haroon Khalid, author of the book ‘Imagining Lahore,’ Bradlaugh Hall was home to the National College, set up by Indian author and politician Lala Lajpat Rai “to prepare ‘intellectual revolutionaries’” such as Bhagat Singh, the famed hero of India’s freedom struggle. It also hosted the Indian National Congress’s historic 1929 Lahore session that culminated in the declaration of Purna Swaraj, or full independence, on December 31, which the party would celebrate as India’s symbolic Independence Day until 1947.”

In March 1926, young proponents of freedom from all over India, especially Punjab, formed the “Naujawan Bharat Sabha” with the objective of transforming their ideology into action. The left-wing association chose Bradlaugh Hall as its headquarter. 




The pictue shows exterior view of Bradlaugh Hall in Lahore, Pakistan, August 15, 2020. (Muhammad Imran Saeed/Facebook)

On October 7, 1930, when freedom fighters Singh and two others were sentenced to death, the Sabha party was declared illegal. However, it was revived as a legal defense team for Singh and others under the name of the “Bhagat Singh Appeal Committees,” with sessions carried out at Sabha’s office in Bradlaugh Hall.

The building also served as a center of cultural activity.

“Apart from being the center of political activities, this historic hall also served as a center for activities related to literature, culture and arts,” historian Masood said.

To commemorate their victory in World War 1, the British organized a mushaira at the Hall in 1919 where Iqbal recited his famous poem Shoa’a-e-Aftab. It is also at Bradlaugh that during the first session of the Lahore Students Union, the poet Josh Malih Abadi recited his famous revolutionary poem: “Suno ay Bastgaan e Zulf Gaiti, Nida Ye Aa Rahi hai Aasman Se/ Kay Aazadi ka ik Lamha hai Behter, Ghulaami ki Hayaat e Jawidaan Se” (Listen! You slaves of the times, such is the order of the day coming down from skies/ A moment of independence is far better than the eternal life in slavery).

The Parsi Theatrical Companies of Cowasjee and Habib Seth were very popular, and both used to perform at Bradlaugh Hall. In 1903, Narayan Prasad Betab’s drama Kasauti was played here. Legendary singer and dancer Gauhar Jaan Kalkattewali performed to a sold-out Hall in 1912.

But the building’s golden years came to an end in 1946 when the All-India Muslim League, formed out of the need for the political representation of Muslims in British India, won majority in the 1946 provincial elections, which is believed to have laid the path for Pakistan. After that, the rival Indian National Congress stopped meeting at Bradlaugh.

“NEGLECT AN INSULT TO REVOLUTIONARIES”

The Hall was managed by the Bradlaugh Hall administrative committee till the 1947 Partition of India, and for a decade after independence was used to provide shelter to migrants from Amritsar, as a warehouse for iron merchants and as a grain silo for the food department.

“The Government of Pakistan handed over the hall to the food department and it was converted into a wheat storage center,” Wasif Naqi, a historian and journalist who grew up in a neighborhood located behind the Hall, told Arab News. 




The pictue shows Bradlaugh Hall in Lahore, Pakistan, August 15, 2020. (Muhammad Imran Saeed/Facebook)

“For a long time, the hall also served as a car workshop. We would hear the din of hammers used by mechanics all day,” Naqi said.

Flooded in a rain storm in 1956, Bradlaugh Hall could no longer be used for food storage and was turned into the National Technical Institute in 1957. The Institute had the building until the 90s, which writer Aown Ali described “as the worst period for this historic building, as it was in this period that all the land grabbing and illegal interventions took place … the area was being exploited all for personal and monetary interests.”

Since 1997, the building has been sealed.

This April, however, the Walled City of Lahore Authority (WCLA) and the Evacuee Trust Property Board (ETPB) said they would join hands to restore the original façade and the internal and external portions of the structure to return Bradlaugh Hall to its former glory. 

“Ideally, a library should be built within Bradlaugh Hall, including a space for political activity,” Kamran the historian said. “But what we have done to our other libraries is no less shameful to what we’ve done to this historical building which once helped bring revolution and thus independence.”

“More important is to return to the ethos this building once embodied, though restoring the structure is also vital,” journalist Masood said. “This act [of neglect] is an insult to the efforts and sacrifices of the revolutionaries who broke the chains of slavery for us.”


For these Pakistani women, Independence Day offers a chance to earn and celebrate

Updated 13 August 2025
Follow

For these Pakistani women, Independence Day offers a chance to earn and celebrate

  • Housewives, maids, mothers turn to selling flags and festive goods for extra income during Aug. 14 rush
  • Seasonal stalls in Pakistan’s commercial center can bring women vendors savings of up to $54 in a few days

KARACHI: In the days before Pakistan’s Independence Day, the streets of Karachi fill with green and white flags, bunting and balloons, but for many women in the city, the national celebration is also a time to step into business — if only for a few days.

Housewives, maids and street vendors set up temporary stalls along busy roads and markets, selling flags, badges, hats and T-shirts to customers celebrating the August 14 holiday.

In an economy where inflation has eroded incomes and steady jobs are scarce, the seasonal rush offers a welcome boost to household finances.

“August 14 is Independence Day, a day of happiness, so we also celebrate our happiness and earn a livelihood for the children,” said Shama Sikandar, a housewife selling Independence Day T-shirts for the first time this year from a roadside stall on Shahra-e-Quaideen.

“Before this, I would just stay at home and do nothing all year.”

She said the sight of other women working outside the home inspired her to try.

“It feels good to be working. I have seen many women even driving rickshaws, some riding motorcycles, some pushing carts, and others doing various jobs to earn a livelihood for their children.”

In Karachi, seasonal vendors crowd key intersections and shopping strips ahead of the holiday, calling out to passing motorists and pedestrians. The sales supplement incomes for women who otherwise rely on low-paying, year-round work.

For 32-year-old maid and mother of three, Saima Babar, the August rush is a planned investment.

From her savings of 30,000 rupees ($105), she buys flags and other celebratory goods to sell on the streets.

“Thanks to Allah, the household runs, we manage one meal a day, and that’s fine, right? My children are doing okay,” she said. “[By selling flags] I manage to save about 10 to 12 thousand rupees ($36–$43).”

Husna, a mother of seven who usually sells pens and keychains at traffic lights in Karachi’s upscale Defense area, shifts her stall to the Sindhi Muslim neighborhood every August.

“On some flags, I earn 20 rupees ($0.07) profit; on others, 30 rupees ($0.11). In this way, I make around 1,200 rupees ($4.30) a day,” she said, before handing over a badge and a couple of flags to a customer.

“Our livelihood is made; there’s enough for bread, water, and lentils. It’s happiness for you, and it’s happiness for us too. Pakistan Zindabad.”

Even women who have been selling for years say the holiday provides a reliable boost.

Sajan Kumar and his wife, Suman, have been setting up a flag stall on Shahra-e-Faisal every August for the past eight years.

“As soon as August 14 arrives, we come here to sell flags,” Kumar said. “It’s a day of celebration. We sell every year. People buy them, celebrate, and also come with their children to stroll around. We manage to save around 10 to 15 thousand rupees ($36–$54).”

Pakistan marks its 79th Independence Day this year under the theme “Marka-e-Haq – the Battle of Truth,” with celebrations beginning on Aug. 1 and running through the month. Across Sindh and Punjab provinces, flag-raising ceremonies, cultural shows, boat parades, marathons, and even donkey cart races have drawn large crowds.

For Babar, the more the merrier.

“The more people celebrate, the more purchases there are, right?” she said with a smile.


Moody’s upgrades Pakistan’s credit rating to ‘Caa1’, finance minister hopes for rate cut

Updated 13 August 2025
Follow

Moody’s upgrades Pakistan’s credit rating to ‘Caa1’, finance minister hopes for rate cut

  • Pakistan’s international bonds rose as much as 1 cent to between 90-100 cents on the dollar following ratings upgrade
  • Aurangzeb says more room for central bank to cut key policy rate from 11 percent on back of positive economic indicators

Moody’s said on Wednesday it had raised Pakistan’s credit rating by one notch to ‘Caa1’ from ‘Caa2’ due to an improving external financial position and it assigned the country a “stable” outlook.

The announcement came within hours of Pakistan’s Finance Minister Mohammed Aurangzeb saying there was more room for the central bank to cut the country’s key policy rate from 11 percent on the back of positive economic indicators.

“The credit rating’s improvement is a sign that economic policies are heading toward the right direction,” Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said in a statement.

Pakistan’s international bonds rose as much as 1 cent to between 90 and 100 cents on the dollar following the ratings upgrade. It lifted most of them to their highest since early 2022 when fears of a full-blown debt crisis sent them plunging to as little as 30 cents.

Moody’s decision to raise the rating by one notch after Fitch and S&P did the same will help Pakistan’s capability to raise external debt. Pakistan says its economy is on a recovery path after a $7 billion IMF bailout helped to stabilize it.

“We changed the outlook for the Government of Pakistan to stable from positive,” Moody’s said in a statement.

“The upgrade to Caa1 reflects Pakistan’s improving external position, supported by its progress in reform implementation under the IMF Extended Fund Facility (EFF) program,” it said.

Pakistan’s debt affordability has improved, but remains one of the weakest among rated sovereigns, Moody’s said, adding that the Caa1 rating also reflected the country’s weak governance and high degree of political uncertainty.

Aurangzeb told a gathering of businessmen in Islamabad ahead of the Moody’s announcement that he was expecting an improvement in Pakistan’s credit rating by other agencies after Fitch and S&P.

“We are hopeful of progress in terms of the policy rate going south,” he added.

Aurangzeb said it was his personal view that there was more room for a rate cut toward the end of the year, adding that it was for the central bank to make the final call on the issue. The next policy rate announcement is due on September 15. The central bank left its key interest rate unchanged at 11 percent on July 30, going against analyst expectations. In a Reuters poll they had forecast a reduction of 50 to 100 basis points. The bank said the inflation outlook had deteriorated due to rising energy prices.

Inflation accelerated to 4.1 percent year-on-year in July. 


Pakistan’s central bank sees FY26 growth up to 4.25%, trade gap to widen

Updated 13 August 2025
Follow

Pakistan’s central bank sees FY26 growth up to 4.25%, trade gap to widen

  • Current account deficit forecast at 0–1% of GDP despite remittance growth
  • Forex reserves projected to reach $15.5 billion by end-December 2025

KARACHI: Pakistan’s central bank on Wednesday projected economic growth of up to 4.25 percent in the current fiscal year but warned the trade deficit would widen, even as reserves are set to climb on the back of steady remittances and foreign inflows.

The forecast comes as Pakistan implements reforms under a $7 billion International Monetary Fund (IMF) program approved in September 2024, which has helped stabilize the currency, ease inflation and restore investor confidence. The IMF deal is tied to fiscal consolidation, energy sector reforms, and measures to boost exports, part of a broader effort to strengthen macroeconomic stability after years of chronic external imbalances.

The economy returned to moderate growth last year, aided by improved agricultural output, lower global commodity prices, and a series of policy rate cuts totaling 1,100 basis points since late 2024. Inflation has eased from record highs, while the rupee has stabilized against the dollar after a crackdown on the illegal currency market.

“With the policy rate kept unchanged at 11 percent in the MPC meetings in June and July, the MPC expects the real policy rate to be adequately positive to stabilize inflation within the medium-term target range,” the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) said in its Monetary Policy Report (MPR) released on Wednesday. 

“In the external account, the MPR expects the trade deficit to widen further and, notwithstanding continued expected growth in workers’ remittances, result in a current account deficit of 0–1 percent of GDP in FY26,” it added.

The central bank said “projected financial inflows, coupled with continued SBP interbank FX purchases, would support further buildup in SBP’s FX reserves, which are projected to rise to $15.5 billion by end-December 2025.”

Economic activity, it said, was “projected to gain further traction, with the impact of the earlier reductions in the policy rate still unfolding,” and real GDP growth was expected to range between 3.25 percent and 4.25 percent in FY26.

The MPR also flagged “potential external and domestic risks to the baseline macroeconomic outlook” and included analysis of the lag in monetary policy transmission, comparisons with global central bank decisions, and the SBP’s use of alternative data and machine learning to fill gaps in labor market and agriculture statistics.
 


Pakistan’s first Islamic digital bank offers 14% Independence Day cashback

Updated 13 August 2025
Follow

Pakistan’s first Islamic digital bank offers 14% Independence Day cashback

  • Campaign runs Aug. 13–22 with Rs3,000 cap per customer
  • Cashback credited to accounts within one business day

KARACHI: Pakistan’s first Islamic digital bank is offering a 14 percent cashback on eligible debit card and QR code transactions to mark the country’s 78th Independence Day, in a campaign aimed at promoting cashless and Shariah-compliant payments.

The “Azadi Cashback” promotion, launched by aik, will run from Aug. 13 to Aug. 22 and allow customers to earn up to Rs3,000 ($10.75) in cashback during the period, credited to their accounts within one business day. The offer excludes utility bills, cash withdrawals, peer-to-peer transfers and government payments.

“The cashback is structured as a discretionary gift on the momentous occasion of Pakistan’s 78th Independence Day,” aik said in a statement.

aik, which operates as a digital-only platform, said the promotion supports its mission to provide Riba-free financial services and encourage secure, cashless transactions. It aims to create a banking experience rooted in transparency, ethics and user empowerment.

aik said the Independence Day campaign was part of efforts to “accelerate the adoption of secure digital payments across Pakistan,” combining “convenience with compliance” for users seeking Islamic finance options.

Digital banking is expanding rapidly in Pakistan, driven by high smartphone penetration and government incentives for electronic payments. According to the State Bank of Pakistan, digital retail transactions surged over 50 percent year-on-year in fiscal 2024, with mobile banking emerging as a key growth segment.


India conflict fires up Pakistan’s Independence Day fervor, boosts flag sales

Updated 13 August 2025
Follow

India conflict fires up Pakistan’s Independence Day fervor, boosts flag sales

  • Flag maker reports sales up by up to 50 percent as households and businesses spend heavily on August 14 decorations
  • Traders say brisk Independence Day buying is lifting markets despite inflation squeezing consumer budgets

KARACHI: Pakistan’s largest flag manufacturer, VIP Flags, is expecting around 50 percent growth in sales this year as the public marks the country’s 78th Independence Day with unusual zeal, fueled by celebrations of victory in the May 2025 conflict with India.

The two nuclear-armed neighbors, which have fought three major wars since 1947, engaged in their deadliest fighting in decades this May. The fighting ended on May 10 after US mediation, with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s government declaring victory and saying it had downed at least six Indian fighter jets.

Officials have since linked the conflict’s outcome to the heightened national fervor surrounding August 14 this year, reflected in booming flag markets and sales of other Independence Day paraphernalia.

“Our business, all the businesses have grown 50 percent,” said VIP Flags CEO Nisar Ahmed Sheikh, adding that much of his stock had been sold to marchers rallying in support of Pakistan’s armed forces during the war with India.

VIP Flags manufactures flags for domestic customers, the armed forces, and international buyers in Saudi Arabia and the UAE, and holds Guinness World Records for the largest flags made in 2004 and 2008.

Sheikh said sales this year would likely run into millions of units.

“Obviously when people were filled with passion [after the war with India] and started hoisting flags, the flags business saw an uptick and increased compared to last year,” he told Arab News. 

“It is still growing and people are putting flags on their cars, bicycles and motorcycles.”

Sheikh said the surge in sales extended well beyond flags, with market vendors incorporating Independence Day themes into a wide range of products — from shirts, mufflers and headbands to shawls, dresses and children’s clothing — creating a vibrant festive atmosphere.

“People must be spending billions of rupees on this (celebrations) and this spending boosts the economy,” the CEO said. 

In Pakistan’s commercial hub of Karachi ahead of Aug. 14, large and small flags adorned vehicles, houses and office buildings, alongside buntings and night-time illuminations. Meanwhile, federal and provincial governments are holding daily events, with top officials like the prime minister and army chief expected to attend ceremonies in Islamabad on Aug. 13 and 14.

“The last time we saw such a show of national zeal on Independence Day was in Zia’s time,” Sheikh said, referring to former military ruler Zia-ul-Haq. “We see people decorating their houses, vehicles and vicinities with flags and buntings and badges.”

Abdul Wahab, a finisher at one of Sheikh’s factories, said he expected at least a 25 percent income increase this season. 

“We are seeing a rush in the market because of this war we recently fought with India,” said the 26-year-old, who plans to work overtime to meet demand.

For lawyer Bad-e-Saba, the occasion was a chance to pass on a message to the next generation.

“The war we recently won against Hindustan is a matter of great pride for us. We want to convey it to our children so they could know where we are standing against our enemy,” she said.

“We want to tell our enemies that we can take good care of our country and our next generation will do it better.”