Govt censured for categorising leased houses as encroachments

The Karachi Bachao Tehreek (Save Karachi Movement) held a demonstration outside the Karachi Press Club on Sunday evening to protest against the forced evictions of the people residing in the surroundings of the city’s Gujjar and Orangi storm water drains.

The protesters claimed that the major political parties of the city and even the media have forgotten their plight, as they are being brutally deprived of their leased homes, while the government is sticking to its deliberate misinterpretation of the Supreme Court’s order and categorising the leased houses as encroachments.

The demonstration was jointly organised by the alleged victims of illegal evictions in the Gujjar Nullah and Orangi Nullah areas, the Awami Workers Party, the Lyari Awami Mahaz, the Pakistan Mazdoor Kissan Party, the Women’s Democratic Front and the Progressive Students Federation.

A large number of citizens, including women and children, participated in the protest outside the press club and shouted slogans against the federal and provincial governments. One of the protesters said that the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s Haleem Adil Shaikh, opposition leader in the Sindh Assembly, had addressed the media when his property was demolished during the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation’s ongoing anti-encroachment operation.

“He forcefully stopped the demolition of his property by gathering his people,” he pointed out, and asked why he is not showing up to express solidarity with the affected families of the Gujjar Nullah and Orangi Nullah areas.

The protester lamented that while all the political parties claim ownership of Karachi, none of them bothers to look into the plight of the city’s residents. He demanded that the MNAs and MPAs elected from the Gujjar Nullah area resign immediately, “whichever political party they may belong to”. The demonstrators shouted the slogan “Ghar kay badlay ghar, warna kursi chhor do”, demanding accommodation as compensation for their demolished houses, or resignation if their elected representatives fail to do so.

“We have spent our childhood and youth in these houses,” said Abid Asghar, leader of the Gujjar Nala area affected families. “For you, [these buildings are] stone and plaster, but for us, they are our life.”

He said that building these houses has been a lifelong endeavour of their elders, and it is impossible for people from their socio-economic class to build a house in this city ever again. “Our only demand is that this operation be halted until we are given alternative housing in the same district, as per the order of the Supreme Court.”

Khurram Ali, convener of the Karachi Bachao Tehreek and general secretary of the Awami Workers Party, said that the current situation of District Central and Orangi Town mirrors that of Kashmir and Palestine.

He said that citizens with legitimate claims to their housing are being forcibly evicted with the help of the law enforcement agencies. He added that those raising questions are being harassed and arrested, while the builder mafia — the actual illegal occupiers — are being given state protection.

He cited Rao Anwar’s name as an example of the police officers responsible for giving land to this mafia all over the city, including in Malir and Gadap, where forcible evictions are taking place as well.

Karachi Bachao Tehreek leader and legal adviser Abira Ashfaq said that a deliberate misinterpretation of the Supreme Court’s order has led to leased houses being categorised as encroachments.

“This was done with the aim of handing over a vast area of land in Karachi to construction companies and the World Bank so that they could profit off it.” She pointed out that these settlements are inhabited by working-class citizens with little to no knowledge of litigation nor any resources to pursue legal battles. “Due to this, their lands are being rapidly usurped.”

She explained that while the Karachi Bachao Tehreek has obtained over 100 stay orders, it takes time to collect the paperwork and file the applications of such a large population. She claimed that the governments, working at the behest of the builder mafia, are taking advantage of these delays.

Karachi Bachao Tehreek leader and research adviser Fizza Qureshi pointed out the incomplete and inconsistent process in the survey conducted in the build-up to the governments’ actions, which had overlooked many houses.

She said that the recent urban floods in Karachi were not caused by Gujjar Nullah, but rather due to gated-communities and large plazas that had been constructed on river deltas, and which catered exclusively to the elite.

She elaborated that while the first order of the Supreme Court pertained to removing encroachments, it also clearly directed the authorities to provide alternative housing to the affected families before any removals.

She pointed out that while the government followed orders concerning demolitions, because they benefited elite interests, it ignored the directives related to the resettlement of the affected working-class families.

She brought attention to how the affected families of the Karachi Circular Railway-related evictions had been living under the open sky amidst rubble for three years but had yet to be offered alternative housing.

Abdul Khaliq Zadran, general secretary of the Lyari Awami Mahaz, said that the elites of the city had planned to crush the public. The majority of Karachi lives in informal settlements, he said, and the elite, who live in large neighbourhoods, are pretending to be the benefactors of Karachi and are trying to label the citizens of informal settlements as encroachers through different means.

He asserted that the real Karachi lived in settlements like Lyari and Lalu Khet, and vowed that they would definitely fight against this class-based violence. Zahabia, organiser of the Progressive Students Federation, said that such inhumane, undemocratic and illegal demolitions had a profound effect on the youth, affecting not only their education but also causing an adverse impact on their entire lives.

Noreen Fatima, leader of the Women’s Democratic Front, said that in this patriarchal society, women had a deep connection to their homes and they suffered severe mental and physical distress from such demolitions.

She highlighted the example of a woman who had recently died of a heart attack after her house was marked for demolition. She made clear that the manner in which this operation was being carried out could not be called anything other than state terrorism.

Qamar Abbas, general secretary of the Pakistan Mazdoor Kissan Party, said that forced evictions and demolitions were a game and a form of class-based exploitation, where the working class was being evicted from their homes to make space for capitalist opportunities. But he asserted that the working class understands this game, and they are ready to stand up against this class-based violence.

Anwar Khan, leader of the Orangi Nala area victims, said that in Karachi, most of the buildings and colonies were built on stolen land, even the Awami Markaz itself. “And like the elite residency of Bani Gala in Islamabad, these buildings and colonies were deemed legal,” he pointed out. On the contrary, he noted, the legitimate houses of the working-class people were being deemed illegal and demolished.

“Currently, a big mafia is operating in the guise of a government that wants to evict us from our legitimate property and sell these lands to the builder mafia, and simultaneously wants to consume the money received for alternative housing from the World Bank,” said Shams, a leader of the Cafe Pyala victims.

“I appeal to the authorities, friends in the media and especially the chief justice of the Supreme Court to take notice of this illegal operation which is going on by misinterpreting your decision.”

Arif Shah, leader of the Karachi Bachao Tehreek and the Gujranwala Victims Committee, thanked the participants of the protest, saying that the Karachi Bachao Tehreek was fighting for democracy by protesting and taking legal action against the excesses in the World Bank project. He said that their struggle would continue until they get their rights.