Zubair Qureshi
At a time when the district administration has closed down all the educational institutions, public parks, sports grounds and recreational spots, the Islamabad Club continues with its lavish dinners and ‘house full’ parties and sporting activities.
A polo match was played and quite a large number came to witness the match on Tuesday despite the fact the District Magistrate/Deputy Commissioner of Islamabad has recently banned all public and private sports activities, dinner parties for three weeks.
According to a notification (dated March 14, 2020) issued by the District Magistrate Hamza Shafqaat “In the wake of the impending Coronavirus COVID-19 alert all cinemas, religious congregations, seminars, sports and cultural events are banned for three weeks.”
However, in clear defiance to the district administration’s orders, the Islamabad Club administrator not only allowed the polo match at its premises but also organized refreshments for the families and spectators who had come to witness the match.
“This act of the club administration has caused many eyebrows to raise, as it exposed players, ground staff and spectators to the threat of coronavirus,” said a female member of the club while requesting not to be named.
Another member who though didn’t attend the event yet saw it happen in the club’s polo ground, expressed his shock over the blatant violation of the District Administration’s notification as well as several health advisories by the Ministry of National Health Services and wondered if authorities that mattered would take any action on this ‘non-serious’ rather ‘criminal negligence’ of the club administration.
The sources further told Pakistan Observer the event was organized for 15 members of the Polo Club of the Islamabad Club and the club has been spending millions of rupees on such events. “Recently Rs900 million were spent on construction of eight stables and more funds are in the pipeline,” they further said.
Currently there are around 11,000 members of the Islamabad Club and the event was organized for the polo club of the Islamabad Club that has 15 members. An attendant of the club said business is as usual at the Islamabad Club. “We are having house full dinners and high-tea parties and the recent notification by the District Administration has significantly contributed to increase in daily attendance.”
“There is no restriction on private dinners, parties and gatherings at the club,” he further said. This correspondent contacted the club officials to give their version but they didn’t respond. A message was also sent to the mobile number of the Assistant Secretary of the Club but to no avail.
