BradlaughBarkat AliMochi Darwaza
Inqilab Zindabad!!!
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Not far from walled city, in the neighborhood of Ganj Bakhsh Town, a few paces away from Rattigon Road, this dear reader, is Bradlaugh Hall
A unanimous icon of Indian freedom struggle

*Independence Day special*

Equally sacred to Hindus, Muslims & Sikhs this was the epicenter of political & cultural activities
From the 1905 peasant movement of Lyallpur 'Pagri Sanbhal Jatta" to Bhagat Singh and his National College to Indian independence Bradlaugh hall buzzed with echoes of Revolution

Foundation stone laid in Oct 1900 by Surendra Nath Banerji, this hall was named after Charles Bradlaugh, a liberal British MP who supported Indian Freedom
It was the idea of Sardar Dial Singh to organize a Congress Session in Lahore, to attract the mainstream political activity

1893 Session of Congress at Lahore became the source of raising funds and Lahore got its first non governmental hall building ideal for political activity
Here once Quaid e Azam addressed Khilafat Movement Session
Allama Iqbal, Zafar Ali Khan & other stalwarts frequented the hall

The placed once roared with cries of Ghadar Party, Lala Lajpat Rai's National College & its revolutionaries, Kartar Singh, Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev & others, now stands in sombre silence, deserted, devastated
Winds of time went past it and we, in our inherited neglect left it to rot

From Bradlaugh Hall, we set our bearing due east and embrace the Circular Road towards the south of Walled City
Here opposite to Mochi Gate, is another structure of Significance
Sandwiched between modern day construction breathing with difficulty this is Barkat Ali Islamia Hall

Khan Bahadur Barkat Ali Khan, we are told, was a tehsildar at Lahore during late 1800s
It was through his efforts that Anjuman e Islamia, a Muslim welfare forum, was formed in 1868
Sir Syed Ahmed Khan's visit to Anjuman's 1887 meeting inspired the construction of a hall building

One Manga Mistri of Lahore was given the contract and Muhammadan Hall was built in 1888
Barkat Ali breathed his last in 1905, but the hall became center of Muslim independence struggle at Lahore
Rallies and gatherings were facilitated by the close proximity of Mochi Gate grounds

This bare street is what survives of Mochi Gate
Name of the gate comes from cobblers (Mochis) or one Moti Ram the gatekeeper from times of Akbar, but this is not of interest, not at the moment
The gardens outside Mochi gate had a role to play in independence struggle for Pakistan

These gardens became key rallying point
It was said that "any Muslim leader who wished to address the people of Lahore had no choice but to come to the Mochi Gate gardens and speak to public"
This perfectly complemented Barkat Ali Islamia Hall located just opposite to Mochi Gate

Hum to ghar se nikle hi thay baandh kar sar pe kafan
Jaan hatheli par liye lo barh chale hain ye qadam

Zindagi to apni mehmaan maut ki mehfil mein hai

Sarfaroshi ki tamanna ab hamaare dil mein hai
Dekhna hai zor kitna baazuay qaatil mein hai
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Happy Independence and

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Sources:
Much on Bradlaugh Hall comes to us from a very fine article by @Aownali published in Dawn ( https://www.dawn.com/news/1209096 )
Details on Barkat Ali are sourced from the blog by Chaghtai Museum ( http://blog.chughtaimuseum.com )