The History of Hotel Purbani

       TRUE HISTORY OF HOTEL PURBANI

This is a corrective response to a couple of articles that were published on April 14, 2012 in two local Bengali newspapers, the Kaler Kontho and the Protidin concerning the history of Hotel Purbani  International  located at 1 Dilkusha Commercial Area, Motijheel, Dhaka.This Hotel was founded by the Late Mr. S.A.Sobhan, a retired CSP of the former Government of Pakistan.  Between the years of 1960 – 1962, Mr.Sobhan,  then Additional Chief Secretary of East Pakistan and later Secretary, Planning Division in the Presidents Secretariat of President Ayub Khan,  Mr  Sobhan established  two companies. The first was EAST PAKISTAN HOTELS LTD., and secondly, a Managing Agency under the name of Eastern Enterprises & Agencies Limited that was to oversee the business of East Pakistan Hotels Limited.  Having held influential positions in Government as Additional  Chief Secretary of East Pakistan, he was able to get the allotment of that parcel of land assigned as 1 Dilkusha Commercial Area from the former Dacca Improvement Trust.  This land was purchased from funds generated from hypothecation to IDBP (former Industrial Development Bank of Pakistan and former United Bank of Pakistan, later known as Shilpa Bank and Janata Bank) of Mr  Sobhans personal properties  in Becharam Dewry and Segun Bagicha Dhaka, in lieu of company shares issued by East Pakistan Hotels Ltd. During his official tenures holding senior Government positions, Mr Sobhan could not directly involve himself to private enterprise and therefore selected friends and family members to incorporate East Pakistan Hotels Ltd, with a Board of Directors.  Mr Sobhan, his wife, and sons and daughters along with some business acquaintances were the original shareholders of East Pakistan Hotels Ltd.  The land purchase was therefore made in the  name of East Pakistan Hotels Limited. This secret was kept until related documents were allegedly removed or replaced by fabricated papers upon the initiation of dishonest business partners of East Pakistan Hotels .  Mr Sobhan retired in 1966. During the years between 1962 and 1966 the company went through several changes due to misappropriation of the Companies funds  and an alleged theft of Mr Sobhan’s personal funds. The result of these thefts forced Mr. Sobhan to quit his job with the Government and replace  a member of his family as Managing Director of East Pakistan Hotels Ltd. ( who went on to work for the former Parjatan Corporation). The construction of Hotel Purbani  had also been stalled at the sixth floor stage due to lack of capital as a result of mishandling of finances. There were at this time, imported hotel equipment and supplies locked up in storage warehouses in Chittagong that had accrued demurrage charges that  were impossible for Mr Sobhan to pay for without outside help. It was at this juncture Mr Sobhan sought help from a Mr. A Sattar,  a local businessman known from his ownership of a company called Momin Motors, Pharmapak (later know as Pharmadesh) and a 7-up bottling factory. Mr Sattar provided the  financial strength and funding necessary to salvage the project  and complete the building of Hotel Purbani  International.  In exchange, he became Chairman of the Board of Directors of Bangladesh Hotels Ltd., with him and his family becoming major shareholders of the company. After his retirement and return to Dacca from Karachi, Mr Sobhan associated himself with Bongobondhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.  His position with the Awami League was that of a silent advisor and had several meetings with Bongobondhu prior to the fateful events of March 25 1971.  Mr Sobhan’s  oldest son , the author of this article and a colleague of Sheikh Kamal , the oldest son of Bongobondhu, was actively involved with Sheikh Kamal and his sister, Sheikh Hasina, during canvassing of voters on many occasions and the facts of this history are humbly and honestly presented by him. The Late Mr Sobhan fled with his family into the refuge of Hotel Purbani after the military crackdown of March 25, 1971. This was a safe haven due to the presence of the Australian High Commission and French Embassy at that time on the top floors of the hotel. Mr Sobhan died of a heart attack while in Hotel Purbani in the morning of May 01, 1971.

                                Timeline of Hotel Purbani International

      A chronological progression of Hotel Purbani as related to it's founder:

            Original offices of East Pakistan Hotels Ltd. in the sheds in front.
                                               (July 22, 1964)

1960                  The idea for a hotel of international stature was conceived about the time

                          of his transfer from Dhaka from his position of Additional Chief Secretary,

                          East Pakistan, to Karachi, briefly in the Ministry of Finance and then as 

                          Joint Secretary, Ministry of Industries. The shape and design of the hotel

                          was chosen from visits to Europe and the employ of an European architect.

                          

1961 - 1962   -  East Pakistan Hotels Limited was registered  with the Joint Stock  

                          Registrar of Companies in Dhaka, with Eastern Enterprises as the

                          appointed Managing  Agency of East Pakistan Hotels Ltd. Shareholders.

                          included A. Sattar as a shareholder of the company.                                

1961 - 1962   -  1 Dilkusha Commercial Area acquired from DIT (Dhaka Improvement Trust)  in

                          the name of East Pakistan Hotels Ltd.

                          (The name “Hotel Purbani “ and logo were obtained with suggestions invited

                           from , I believe, the Shilpakala (Artists) Academy in Dhaka)

1964 -1965    -   Imported goods for the hotel were stranded and accruing demurrage,

                          (warehousing fees charged by the port authority of Chittagong). Because of

                          misappropriated company funds, there was not enough  money to pay customs

                          taxes and port charges on the imported items.

1965 -1966     -   Mr Sattar agreed to provide the funding needed to salvage the hotel and the

                          Company, given the majority shares in East Pakistan Hotels Ltd.

1966 - 1967       S.A.Sobhan retired from public service and returned to Dhaka to take charge of

                          Hotel Purbani International as Managing Director. (The first Managing Director

                          was Salahuddin Ahmad ).

1971                  On May 1, at about 8 am, Mr Sobhan passed away in Room # 525 in Hotel

                          Purbani.

(Disclaimer: The dates are as accurate as possible. Corrections will be made if and when discovered and verified with documentation. The sequence of events are factual)  

The purpose of this article is to restore the rightful place of the Late Mr. S.A.Sobhan in  history  as the original founder of  Hotel Purbani on land designated as  1 Dilkusha Commercial Area and that is the land that Hotel Purbani  International  stands on today. Other aspects  of the two articles as reported are doubtful and any honest investigative journalist should be able to uncover the real truths.  As for the Sobhan family, they wish to preserve the honor and dignity of their fathers achievements.

                                        Addendum

 

“The land purchase was therefore made in the name of East Pakistan Hotels Limited. The source of funds was confidential as they came from someone holding a high position in the Central government.” 

After years of investigations by various people, the apparent real disposition of the land area of Purbani has come to light (though still to be officially confirmed by Rajuk, formerly Dhaka Improvement Trust (DIT).  The land was gifted to DIT by the Nawab family and is part of KHAS land that was never SOLD, rather actual 99-year LEASES were granted. Therefore, DIT maintained ownership of the land but granted leaseholder rights to individual land parcels. According to this revelation, Late Mr. S.A. Sobhan is the rightful leaseholder of the Purbani land and the right to occupy that land area should rightfully pass on to his children. This transition could never take place with his partners holding major shares in the hotel company and keeping full control of the managing agency and Bangladesh Hotels Ltd.

Disclaimer: The dates are as accurate as possible. Corrections will be made if and when discovered and verified with documentation. The sequence of events are factual)  

The purpose of this article is to restore the rightful place of the Late Mr. S.A.Sobhan in  history  as the original founder of  Hotel Purbani on land designated as  1 Dilkusha Commercial Area and that is the land that Hotel Purbani  International  stands on today. Other aspects  of the two articles as reported are doubtful and any honest investigative journalist should be able to uncover the real truths.  As for the Sobhan family, they wish to preserve the honor and dignity of their fathers achievements.