An association of the semi-literate is presently heading the club located at Upper Mall in Lahore
LAHORE: Organisations and institutions, established over years, crumble when individual whims are allowed to prevail over rules and healthy traditions that have developed over a century. All it takes to destroy an institution, such as a certain club, located on Upper Mall Lahore, spread over several acres of prime real estate, is an executive committee dominated by men with a history of financial malpractices, moral bankruptcy, facing charges of corruption, and having support of a pliant bureaucracy and a lower judiciary which is not above board. For over a century, this club, like numerous other prestigious clubs in Lahore, Karachi and other cities, held its annual general elections, to elect a committee to run its affairs in accordance with the rules and regulations that have existed for a long time. Membership of this club was offered on a first come first serve basis, to educated citizens, civil servants, uniformed officers and professionals who enjoyed credible reputations, with no criminal record.
A barely literate (fake degree) tax-evading trader, affiliated with a political party of ill-repute, and a retired bureaucrat facing charges of massive corruption, under investigation by NAB on directives of the superior judiciary, during their tenures as chairmen have ruined this club. As chairman, the former bureaucrat went on a rampage offering membership to the highest bidder, introducing a category of membership (A-Member) that never existed before, violating rights of those who have been on the waiting list for more than 10 years.
This practice of widening their electoral constituency by irregularly inducting new members has been in vogue for over a decade in this club, reducing the quality of its membership, adversely impacting its decor, discipline and functioning. When challenged for irregularities, the executive committee elected under the previous set of rules manipulated their contacts to enhance their tenure to three years on flimsy grounds, without seeking a fresh mandate. An association of the semi-literate is presently heading the club.
Zaman G
Published in The Express Tribune, December 21st, 2015.
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