State land is public property. It is not the property of a club. It is not the property of a class. It belongs to the citizens of Pakistan, and every acre of it is held in trust for them.
This principle shaped the dialogue Republic Policy Think Tank held in Lahore on Gymkhana Clubs and Public Interest. Members of the Punjab Assembly, civil servants, academics and even club members sat at one table. They asked a question the state has avoided for decades: can a democracy keep prime public land locked inside exclusive enclaves for a privileged few?
The answer is simple. Article 25 of the Constitution guarantees equality before law. Equality is not a slogan. It is a standard, and the use of public land for elite leisure does not meet it. Rousseau reminded us that the fruits of the earth belong to all and the earth itself to no one. Courts across the common law world have given this idea legal shape through the public trust doctrine. The state is a trustee, not an owner. A trustee cannot hand the trust to its friends.
This is why Republic Policy Think Tank exists. It speaks for the public interest. It raises the governance questions that power would rather keep buried. Its weekly dialogues bring legislators, bureaucrats and citizens together, because reform does not grow in silence. It grows through debate, through evidence and through courage.
The dialogue reached a clear conclusion. State resources cannot be used against the public interest. Not by clubs. Not by departments. Not by anyone.
So ask yourself, reader, who enjoys the land your taxes maintain. Ask who made that decision. Ask why. Then demand transparency. Demand accountability. Demand that the state remember whom it serves. Governance exists for the public, or it is not governance at all.
The best-selling books of Republic Policy Think Tank, including the landmark book The Bureaucratic Coup, are available at Vanguard Books, Liberty Books, Readings, Kitab Sarai, Sang-e-Meel, Saeed Book Bank Islamabad, National Book Foundation, and others across Pakistan. Contact for home delivery: +92 341 4222501.
