No ‘poor’ people allowed: Islamabad Club’s classist behaviour still in play

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“No maids or Ayahs allowed beyond this point.” Not more than a couple of months back, Islamabad’s premier Club and golf course got a fair share of backlash from all and sundry for this derogatory sign board attempting to bar the entry of ‘helpers’ beyond a certain point in the club.

Image result for maids and ayas not allowed

Fast forward it to today and Islamabad Club, the ‘brains’ behind this widely distasteful sign has now come up with yet another gem to keep the ‘poor’ and the ‘unworthy’ away from its ‘humble’ domain. This time it is the golf course of the club that has closed its gates on a couple of professional golfers because apparently they’re not elite enough to fit in.

Pakistan’s top professional golfers, Muhammad Shabbir Iqbal, and Azhar Hussain Bokhari are claiming that they were completely barred from entering the premises of the club after being initially discouraged from using the golf club’s dining and refreshment facilities.

The golfers maintain that no valid reason was given to them for this behavior of the authorities, however, according to their lawyer, their ‘low’ status was apparently the culprit here since the golfers, before they became successful, served as caddies in the golf course.

Both the golfers moved court over this alleged “social and class discrimination” by the club authorities. The case will now be taken up by the court on September 28th.

The point that comes to mind however is, how is this discriminatory behaviour by the Islamabad club authorities any different from the signboards that were commonplace during The Segregation era in the US (1900-1944)?

[The Segregation Era was known for the blatant discrimination against African Americans in employment sector, as well as in schools and public accommodations.]

 

 

 

And this signboard, which does not belong to that era, but is in glaringly poor taste nonetheless.

 

But it is not the first time an embargo like this has been lifted due to perceived class structures. Golf clubs all over the world, have been notorious of adopting such elitist attitude towards their members.

The Royal and Ancient Golf Club in St. Andrews, Scotland, decided in September 2014 to admit women to their golf courses. They had a signboard, “no dogs or women allowed” on their front gates prior to that.

The Royal Troon golf club in England was the last remaining all-male club that finally allowed female members to join the esteemed club.

Pakistan also isn’t quite behind in this game of discriminatory signboards, in fact people in this country are well capable of stooping down to any level to display the horrible discriminatory attitude that they harbour towards people they don’t agree with.

 

 

 

The internet also couldn’t keep quiet at this discriminatory attitude.

 

 

 

 

Even our new esteemed PML-N leader got mentioned in one of the tweets for his famous “Poor people are born to serve the rich” remark.

 

 

And one even mentioned how Islamabad Club’s web page proudly announces that it is an exclusive club whose membership comprises government officials, diplomats & the “ELITE” of Islamabad.

 

 

This issue is not uncommon in Pakistan. The fact that less and less people feel the shock on coming across such incidents is a constant reminder that the problem is deeper than we realise. Discriminatory signboards or discriminatory behaviour is now commonplace in both urban areas and public places.

However, the fact that this could be a step towards the possible normalisation of this and many other such discriminatory policies, is a horrifying thing to consider, even for a moment.

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