Rotary Club of Dhaka

Dhaka City, in the late thirties was a burgeon township of 120-150,000 people mostly living in and around what is now known as the ‘Old Town’ along the river Buriganga. A major city, in the Muslim populated East Bengal, Dhaka was growing in importance due mainly to the trading business based on the riverine communication. The gentry comprised of businessmen, educationists, professionals and the officials, both local and foreign, who mixed well socially.In this... Read More

Dhaka City, in the late thirties was a burgeon township of 120-150,000 people mostly living in and around what is now known as the ‘Old Town’ along the river Buriganga. A major city, in the Muslim populated East Bengal, Dhaka was growing in importance due mainly to the trading business based on the riverine communication. The gentry comprised of businessmen, educationists, professionals and the officials, both local and foreign, who mixed well socially.

In this background the Rotary International movement, founded in the US city of Chicago in 1905 by Paul P Haris, a lawyer, and three of his friends as co-founder, found Dhaka an ideal home for first Rotary Club in part the world. At a meeting on the 22nd December 1937 at the Imperial Bank of India building near Victoria Park (now Bahadur Shah) park the Rotary Club of Dhaka was founded. The meeting was attended by 17 members from diversified professions.

The meeting came about by the efforts Rtn Sir Fredrick James who was the Honorary General Commissioner and Rtn Herbert Bryant, Secretary of the Middle Asia office set up in 1930 to boost Rotary movement in East Asia and organize Rotary Clubs in India, Burma (now Mayanmar), Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), Afghanistan and the South East Asia. In the early days Rtn Herbert Bryant organized clubs and Rtn Sir James granted charters on behalf of the Rotary International.

In their effort to introduce Rotary ideals, Sir James and Herbert Bryant visited Dhaka and came across such dedicated men as H R Wilkinson, S J E Virgo, Professor Ramesh Chandra Majumder and Altaf Hossain to organise the first Rotary club in region sponsored by Rotary Club of Calcutta. The Club was admitted as the 16,114th Club on the 26th February 1937, which is observed as the charter date. The Charter was presented to the Club on the 22nd March 1938. The following members were the founding members:

Dhaka City, in the late thirties was a burgeon township of 120-150,000 people mostly living in and around what is now known as the ‘Old Town’ along the river Buriganga. A major city, in the Muslim populated East Bengal, Dhaka was growing in importance due mainly to the trading business based on the riverine communication. The gentry comprised of businessmen, educationists, professionals and the officials, both local and foreign, who mixed well socially.In this... Read More