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

Children play near Bradlaugh Hall in Lahore, Pakistan, on July 25, 2019. (Save Bradlaugh Hall, Lahore/Facebook)
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Updated 15 August 2022
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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.”


Pakistan PM’s recent Saudi visit ‘most successful in decades’ — information minister

Updated 21 min 19 sec ago
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Pakistan PM’s recent Saudi visit ‘most successful in decades’ — information minister

  • Shehbaz Sharif was in Saudi Arabia from April 27-30 where he met crown prince, several top Saudi ministers
  • “High-powered” delegation of Saudi businessmen due in Pakistan in “few days” to discuss private sector investments 

ISLAMABAD: Pakistani Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said on Friday Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s recent visit to Saudi Arabia was the most successful tour to the Kingdom in decades by a Pakistani leader, with the premier holding at least twelve meetings, including with the crown prince.

Sharif was in Riyadh from Apr. 27-30 to attend a special two-day meeting of the World Economic Forum on global collaboration, growth and energy. On the sidelines of the WEF conference, Sharif met and discussed bilateral investment and economic partnerships with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and various top officials from the Kingdom. 

This was Sharif’s second meeting with the crown prince in a month. Before that he also met him when he last traveled to the Kindom on April 6-8.

“Such a successful tour of Saudi Arabia has not been seen in decades,” Tarar told a press briefing on Friday, speaking about Sharif’s recent trip to Riyadh for the WEF special meeting. “With Saudi ministers, the process of meetings went on for two days.”

Among those Sharif met were the Saudi ministers of finance, industries, investment, energy, climate and economy and planning, the adviser of the Saudi-Pakistan Supreme Coordination Council and the presidents of the Saudi central bank and Islamic Development Bank.

“PM had twelve meetings in two days which has not happened in history,” Tarar said. “And in the meetings every minister came and told us that it was the order of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman that they had to do efforts for Pakistan and cooperate with Pakistan and we have come to tell you we will do whatever we can for investments in Pakistan.”

Tarar said a “high-powered” delegation of Saudi business people and heads of major Saudi companies would be in Islamabad in the “next few days.” 

“Delegation is coming to islamabad and we have planned a big program for investment in the private sector,” the information minister added. 

Pakistan and Saudi Arabia enjoy strong trade, defense and cultural ties. The Kingdom is home to over 2.7 million Pakistani expatriates and serves as the top source of remittances to the cash-strapped South Asian country.

Both Pakistan and Saudi Arabia have been closely working to increase bilateral trade and investment deals in recent weeks, and the Kingdom recently reaffirmed its commitment to expedite an investment package worth $5 billion.

Cash-strapped Pakistan desperately needs to shore up its foreign reserves and signal to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) that it can continue to meet requirements for foreign financing which has been a key demand in previous bailout packages. 

Saudi Arabia has often come to Pakistan’s aid in the past, regularly providing it oil on deferred payments and offering direct financial support to help stabilize its economy and shore up forex reserves.


PIA operations to Dubai, Sharjah ‘severely affected’ due to UAE rains

Updated 51 min ago
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PIA operations to Dubai, Sharjah ‘severely affected’ due to UAE rains

  • Extreme weather in UAE expected to continue until Friday, authorities have issued safety advisories for residents
  • Latest rains come two weeks after Dubai was hit by unprecedented storms that paralyzed the emirate for days

KARACHI: Pakistan’s national carrier PIA said on Thursday its operations to Dubai and Sharjah had been “severely affected” by a latest spell of heavy rains in the UAE and would remain suspended until further notice.

UAE residents woke up to heavy rain, thunderstorms, and strong winds on Thursday morning, as predicted by the UAE’s National Center of Meteorology (NCM) on Wednesday, May 1. The extreme weather is expected to continue until Friday, May 3, and authorities have issued safety adviseries for residents.

The latest rains come two weeks after Dubai was hit by unprecedented storms that paralyzed the emirate for days.

“Air operations to Dubai and Sharjah are severely affected due to heavy rains in UAE,” PIA said in a statement. “Air operations of other airlines including PIA will remain suspended for the time being.”

The airline said passengers of affected flights should contact PIA call center 786 786 111 for their flight information and alternative arrangements.

Last month, Dubai had to endure the towering task of clearing its water clogged roads and drying out flooded homes after a record storm saw a year’s rainfall in a day. Dubai International Airport, a major travel hub, also struggled for days to clear a backlog of flights and many roads were still flooded in the aftermath of the deluge.

The rains were the heaviest experienced by the United Arab Emirates in the 75 years that records have been kept. They brought much of the country to a standstill and caused significant damage, flooding trapped residents in traffic, offices and homes and overrunning malls and roads. 
 


In scenic Abbottabad, an old church tells a tale of religious unity, colonial heritage

Updated 59 min 38 sec ago
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In scenic Abbottabad, an old church tells a tale of religious unity, colonial heritage

  • St. Luke’s Church was built in 1864 on land donated by Queen Victoria, empress of India
  • Can seat up to 150 worshippers, expanding into outdoor area to host larger crowds

ABBOTTABAD: Located in Abbottabad, a picturesque city set against the mountainous terrain of Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, the 160-year-old St. Luke’s Church has a tale to tell of religious unity and the region’s colonial history. 

Built in 1864 during British rule, the Anglican-Protestant church was established to serve British officials serving in the Indian subcontinent. Construction of St. Luke’s commenced in 1854-55, with initial delays due to slow fund-raising and then a brief interruption due to the Indian Rebellion of 1857. It was completed and then consecrated by the Bishop of Calcutta in 1864. 

Despite disruptions during the partition of British India in 1947 and the birth of Pakistan, the church has continued to host mass and retained many of its original architectural elements.

“During its construction, the church’s exterior was built with stones that were cut and laid by hand,” Rev. Rafiq Javed, a priest at the church appointed by the Diocese of Peshawar, told Arab News this week, explaining the history of St. Luke’s Church.

“The inner part [of the church] is built using mud, lentils, jute, sawdust, and paste made of eggs. The eggs were provided by the local people.”

St. Luke’s Church retains many elements from the time of its construction, such as stained-glass windows and old locks and their gigantic keys. A pipe organ stands in the church foyer.

Javed said the musical instrument had become unusable due to water damage some 50 years ago but its sound was once well known across the Abbottabad valley.

The church walls display plaques dating back to 1865 and serving as a memory of fallen British soldiers. One also comes across a metallic device permanently fixed on one of the stairs at the church’s entrance that was used by British troops to remove mud from their shoes before going to the main hall for worship.

The local Christian community says the church property was donated by Queen Victoria, empress of India, and one of its gates was named after her. The church property comprises the vicar’s home as well as staff quarters for caretakers of the building.

The church seats up to 150 worshippers, expanding into the outdoor area to accommodate larger crowds during special occasions such as Christmas and Easter.

Christianity, the third largest religion in Muslim-majority Pakistan, is followed by 1.27 percent of the population, according to the 2017 Census. The community has roughly equal proportions of Catholics and Protestants, with a small number of Eastern Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox Christians as well. There are around 4,000 Christians in Abbottabad, according to local estimates.

Javed the priest said the building of the church was a community effort:

“At the time, the people who lived here included Hindus and our Muslim brothers as well and they also lent a hand in building this church. The eggs [to make paste] were provided by the local Hindu and Muslim communities.”


Google to establish fifty AI-equipped smart schools in Pakistani capital

Updated 02 May 2024
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Google to establish fifty AI-equipped smart schools in Pakistani capital

  • Smart schools incorporate technology and innovation in teaching and learning processes to improve quality of education
  • Smart schools in Islamabad will be equipped with 30,000 Google for Education IDs with AI features and digital tools 

ISLAMABAD: US tech giant Google is all set to establish 50 smart schools in Pakistan’s federal capital offering AI features and a suite of digital tools for “enhanced collaboration and productivity,” Pakistani state media reported this week. 

A smart school incorporates technology and innovation in its teaching and learning processes to improve the quality of education. Smart schools use various technologies such as interactive whiteboards, online learning platforms, artificial intelligence and virtual reality to enhance the learning experience of students. 

Experts say smart schools lead to improved student engagement and motivation, personalized learning, access to a wider range of resources, and enhanced communication between teachers, students, and parents. Smart schools also promote collaborative learning, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills among students.

A Google for Education team and its local partner Tech Valley met this week with the Secretary of the Ministry of Federal Education and Professional Training to present its proposals for Pakistan’s education sector, including setting up smart schools. 

“50 Smart schools in Islamabad will be equipped with 30,000 Google for Education IDs which includes features, powered by AI, like practice sets and a suite of digital tools for enhanced collaboration and productivity,” the APP wire agency reported. 

“Discussions extended to several upcoming initiatives, including teacher workshops on Google for Education tools, the establishment of a public Google Reference School, the training of 2,000 youths in job-ready skills through Google Career Certificates, and the potential collaboration on hosting an Edutech event with the Ministry of Federal Education in Pakistan.”

According to the “Global Education 2020” report issued by UNESCO, there has been a significant increase in the use of technology in education worldwide. The report indicated that 90 percent of the world’s countries have launched initiatives to integrate technology into education, and 80 percent of students in advanced countries use technology in education.

As per a report by “Holistics,” a business intelligence and data analytics platform, Smart School technology has also been adopted by many countries in Asia, including Singapore, China, and South Korea, and has proven to be effective in improving the quality of education and learning outcomes.

The size of the Smart School market is expected to reach $73.8 billion by 2025 compared to a market size of $43.6 billion in 2018, marketing research company “Markets and Markets” said in a recent report. 


Pakistan inflation eases to 22-month low at 17.3% in April amid monetary tightening

Updated 02 May 2024
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Pakistan inflation eases to 22-month low at 17.3% in April amid monetary tightening

  • Pakistan beset by inflation above 20% since May 2022, registering high of 38% in May 2023 due to high food, energy costs
  • Pakistan is currently navigating strict reforms as part of an International Monetary Fund bailout program

KARACHI: Pakistan’s inflation eased off to 17.3%, the lowest since May 2022, on a year-on-year basis in April 2024 from 20.7% recorded in March 2024 and 36.4% in April 2023, official data issued on Thursday said.

Pakistan has been beset by inflation above 20% since May 2022, registering a high of 38 percent in May 2023 main due to high food and energy costs. 

Pakistan’s central bank, which has kept the interest rate steady at 22% since June last year amid tight monetary tightening, had forecasted that ” inflation will continue to remain on downward trajectory further moderation.”

“Besides the coordinated tight monetary and fiscal policy response, other factors that have led to this favorable outcome include lower global commodity prices, improved food supplies and high base effect,” the central bank said in its monetary policy statement issued on Monday.

On a month-on-month basis, inflation decreased to 0.4 percent in April 2024 as compared to an increase of 1.7% in the previous month and a hike of 2.4% in April 2023, according to the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) . 

In April on an annual basis the prices of onions increased by 156.16 percent, tomatoes 126.67 percent, chicken 33.62 percent and meat 22.18 percent. In the non-food category, gas charges surged by 318.74 percent, electricity charges 71.12 percent, accommodation services 31.50 percent, transport services 26.70 percent, cotton cloth 23.00 percent, drugs and medicines 22.78%, and footwears 21.38%.

Urban core inflation measured by non-food non-energy items increased to 13.1 percent on an annual basis in April 2024 as compared to an increase of 12.8 percent in the previous month and 19.5 percent in April 2023.

Rural core inflation measured by non-food non-energy items increased to 19.3 percent on a year-on-year basis in April 2024 as compared to an increase of 20 percent in the previous month and 24.9 percent in April 2023.