Pindi building where Indians were not allowed to enter

In 2013, the Rawalpindi Cantonment Board set its eyes on the six-acre Lansdowne Institute land at Shah Balut Park on Mall Road, where it wanted to demolish the 130-year-old heritage site and convert it into a multi-purpose commercial complex.

The complex also included a hotel, shopping mall, corporate offices, cineplex, health club, swimming pool, indoor games and residential apartments. At that time, General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani was the chief of the Pakistan Army. Now call it security issues or the knowledge and civility of the then Chief of Army Staff that he rejected this plan of the Cantonment Board. However, some experts were of the view that the Trust Act of 1882 did not allow the Cantonment Board to use it beyond the purposes for which it was established, which were educational and recreational.

As the Lansdowne Institute is located within the Rawalpindi cantt, it is managed by the Military Lands and Cantonments which has started work since 2019 to renovate it into a mini theatre, food court and sports hall. is Due to the Corona crisis, this work is still delayed.

However, the issues of restoration and for what purposes it will be used after that? In this regard, when Secretary Rawalpindi Cantonment Board Qaiser Mehmood was asked, he expressed the traditionalism that this information cannot be shared. It is not known why the civilian people working with the military institutions also consider the issues of restoration of a cinema as a secret of national security.

Established in 1891, Lansdowne Institute is the guardian of the cultural tradition of the city of Rawalpindi. In 1915, the lease of this building was given in the name of cinema, which was named Lansdowne Cinema, but after the establishment of Pakistan, it was named as Odeon Cinema, where films continued to be played until 2008. Later, the dilapidated condition of the building and various security conditions closed its doors to fans.

Where Lansdowne Institute Rawalpindi is located today, there used to be a 15-and-a-half-acre Chestnut Park owned by the Prime Minister of Rawalpindi, Sardar Sujan Singh and his brother Kirpal Singh. He was the descendant of Sardar Milkha Singh Thale Puria, who wrested this area from the Gakhdars and started the Sikh rule here in 1765.

When the British came, Lord Lansdowne, who was the Viceroy of India from 1884 to 1894, visited Rawalpindi. At that time, there was a common impression among the native community that if the British government was served, they not only did not forget but also repaid it. Perhaps with this in mind, Sardar Sujan Singh and Sardar Karpal Singh organized a grand evening in honor of the Viceroy of India at Shah Balut Park, owned by these two brothers, in which the Sikh brothers also announced that we dedicated the garden and its adjoining grounds to Lady Lansdowne.

The announcement was well received and the result was that Sardar Sujan Singh, who had already emerged as a major military contractor in the Anglo-Afghan wars, began to expand his business further. The Lansdowne Trust was established on 5 August 1891, but construction had begun two years earlier. The terms of the trust included the construction of a library for the English class and a hall for recreational activities. In 1891, when the Lansdowne Trust building at Shah Balut Park was completed, it was handed over to the Lansdowne Trust, whose members included the GOC of Rawalpindi, Commissioner, Deputy Commissioner, Cantonment Magistrate or Honorary Secretary of the Rawalpindi Club and the benefactor’s family. A person was involved.

In the beginning, the English used to come here to read books in the library during the day and have dinner parties with their couples in the evening. After some time the management of the trust was entrusted to the Cantonment Committee whose office was at Abbas Market near Poonch House. In 1915, the Cantonment Committee converted its hall into a cinema to give financial autonomy to the institute, park and library. Sardar Sant Singh started a cinema here by taking two hundred rupees per month as rent. Another thing the committee did was to lease two kanals and sixteen marles of land at the back of the trust to an Englishman, Mr. Lintat, on monthly rent.

Before the Cantonment Committee which was converted into the Cantonment Board in 1924, Sardar Mohan Singh, the grandson of Sardar Sujan Singh, raised the issue that the land leased to an Englishman was in fact owned by the Trust, so the Board had to rent it. cannot collect but the rent should be deposited in the account of the trust.

After which it was decided that one-fourth of the rent would be deposited in the Military State Office and three-fourth in the account of the Trust. When the financial condition of the Trust improved, in 1933 it was decided to build a separate building next to the Institute for the library, which was confined to a room on the west side of the cinema. This library is still established in this building and is called Rawalpindi Cantonment Library. At that time, the Rawalpindi Cantonment Board was deprived of its regular building, so in 1932, after cutting down the chestnut trees, the Cantonment erected its own building in place of the park, where the administrative affairs of the Board were handled.

Arjun Das, a Hindu businessman of Saddar Bazar, filed a claim in the court that the Cantonment Board’s building on the trust’s site was illegal, but Arjun Das had to fight with the board and withdrew the case. However, this was echoed in the Punjab Legislative Assembly on March 8, 1938, when a member, Sham Lal, questioned under which regulation the board was occupying the trust land.

When the Legislative Assembly inquired with the station commander of Rawalpindi, he referred the matter to the LFC sub-area. Meanwhile, World War II started and the account went into cold storage. Meanwhile, the financial condition of the trust deteriorated and the Cantonment Board, through a letter dated 23 June 1942, requested Sardar Mohan Singh to take over the affairs of the trust. On which he gave a conditional consent that all the buildings of the trust including library, cinema, canteen, roads, park and cantonment building should be handed over to him and he would give the Cantonment Board the compensation for its building. The Cantonment Board will pay the monthly rent to the Trust after it is ready to give as per the market rate. Also said that my late grandfather had set up some other trusts which are now running under my supervision. But the Cantonment Board in its meeting held on 23 February 1943 rejected Mohan Singh’s proposals.

At that time, Mohan Singh owned two cinemas in Rawalpindi, Rose Cinemaraja Bazar and New Rose Cinema Pohri Pul, but he did not have the lease of Lansdowne Cinema. Hussain Ahmed Khan, a citizen of Rawalpindi, writes in his memoirs book ‘Rawalpindi Ki Yadeen’ that in 1944 we went to watch the second day show of the famous film ‘Ratan’ with my family but started going back after seeing the board of ‘Housefull’. That Mohan Singh caught sight of our father immediately called back and put extra chairs in the hall and gave us a free show, what a classy people they were.’

When the Great War ended, freedom movements started in India. During the establishment of Pakistan, the worst riots took place in Rawalpindi, in which the Lansdowne Institute and the library were also set on fire. After which many valuable books were reduced to ashes and the roof of the institute was ruined. The Cantonment Board repaired the building and leased it to Alhaj Ghulam Jilani for 1600 per month who established a cinema called Odin here. Apart from this, he also owned the Imperial Cinema where the Imperial Market is today. He himself became a BD member during Ayub’s reign and his son Agha Abdul Rasheed Jilani later became the Mayor of Rawalpindi.

Meanwhile, an interesting incident happened that a former member of the Cantonment Board, Alhaji Mehboob Elahi, filed a complaint in the court that there is no mosque in the cantonment area, so a mosque should be built here. In response to this, Alhaji Ghulam Jilani said that the proposal is very good, but there is a Plaza Cinema along with this cinema, so it should be demolished first so that no myths exist near the mosque. On which the court dismissed the prosecution. Before the establishment of Pakistan, Plaza Cinema was called Nach Ghar, where dance and song gatherings were arranged.

The Lansdowne Institute houses many memorable events in the history of Rawalpindi. At one time, entry of Indians was prohibited here and only whites could enter. In 1936, Sardar Mohan Singh’s son got married to Maharaja Jaind’s daughter, so several days of celebrations were held in the same park. The first day of marriage was reserved for Hindus and Sikhs. The second day was for the British and the third day for the Muslims. Sir sangeet concerts were organized every day. Sir Sikandar Hayat was also among the guests. It is said that when they came to the gathering, the prostitutes started reciting naat, on which Sir Sikandar Hayat stopped the prostitutes saying that the name of my master cannot be mentioned in the gathering of Now Noosh.

The gatherings of the Arbab-e-Zoq Rawalpindi Circle were also once held in the library of the Lansdowne Institute. Saadat Hasan Manto also came here and presented his article ‘Minto, Saadat Hasan ki Nazar Mein’. It is said that on that day, there was no place for the sit-in in the library or even in Kaja Park.

Between the Lansdowne Institute and the library building is another building which housed a club called the ‘Royal Academy of Buffaloes’ whose activities were highly dubious. Aziz Malik, the author of the book called ‘Rawal Des’ and a well-known writer, writes that one day he secretly saw what the British were doing here, and he saw that a heavy buffalo’s head was mounted on a wooden throne in the middle of the table. was placed, in the middle was a leather bowl with a leather stick and around it some Englishmen were practicing black magic. After the establishment of Pakistan, the office of APP, the official news agency of Pakistan, was established in this hall and then in 1983 it was made part of the library which was inaugurated by the then President Zia-ul-Haq.

When this institute was established 130 years ago, its area was 15 and a half acres, which has now been reduced to six acres. However, it is good to know that the Cantonment Board is serious about the restoration of this historical heritage. It is hoped that serious efforts will also be made to restore the historical heritage that has deteriorated in Sadar’s area.