Daily Times

Forced eviction and illegal occupation of ancestral land led to a pour out of hundreds of protesting villagers outside Bahria Town Karachi, and set the main gate on fire. The desperate and angry demonstrators did not stop there and entered its premises to vandalise the private properties.

A heavy contingent of police was on the spot to deal with any untoward situation, while the Bahria Town management sealed the entrance with containers.

But the protesters breached the barricaded gate and entered the housing society. The protesting party turns into a mob and then ransacked and torched a Suzuki car showroom and a fast food joint among other establishments. The protesters also looted at least two ATMs, as per the witnesses, who wished to remain anonymous.

Following the arson attacks, the Karachi Water and Sewerage Board imposed an emergency at its Safoora hydrant, and dispatched several water tankers to the gated community on Super Highway.

The Sindh Action Committee, an alliance of nationalist parties in the province, gave the call for the protest against alleged hostile takeover of some goth lands by the Bahria Town management.

The committee comprises Qadir Magsi, Jalal Mehmood Shah, Ayaz Latif Palijo and other Sindhi nationalist leaders. The Sindh Indigenous Rights Alliance, which has led several such protests, supported the call too.

It was attended by residents of nearby villages, who say they are being forced to give up their lands.But the committee members disassociated its involvement from any violence which took place during the protest.

They were Bahria Town’s own people who deliberately drove the protest towards violence, said the committee members and added that they were staging a peaceful sit-in and the Sindh Action Committee had nothing to do with the violence in Bahria Town.

The Bahria Town management is trying to take over lands in Noor Mohammad Gabol Goth, Usman Allahrakhiyo Goth, Hadi Bakhsh Gabol Goth and Abdullah Gabol Goth, said the committee leaders.

Apart from these goths, it wishes to take over private lands owned by Kamal Jokhiyo, Faiz Gabol and Ameeruddin Gabol too.

Meanwhile, taking to social media, the netizens and social activists also expressed their solidarity with the protestors and made #SindhRejectsBahriaTown trending.

But, in a tweet, the Bahria Town Chairman Malik Hussain said that “Bahria Town has not occupied any land illegally. By law, if someone proves that even there’s an inch of land which doesn’t belong to Bahria Town, we are ready to take complete responsibility for it. Bahria Town has always welcomed free investigation and will continue to do so,” it read.

Terming it a terrorist attack, he lamented that Bahria Town has incurred billion of rupees worth of loss during the demonstration, while several properties were ransacked and its residents were attacked, and despite not being afforded instant justice, Bahria Town will raise its voice in the court of law

The indigenous communities have been opposing the Karachi project since its launch in 2014. The latest rounds of clashes began in April as activists resisted work to expand the housing complex into nearby villages.

In May 2018, the Supreme Court had ruled that the Malir Development Authority illegally granted land to Bahria Town Karachi. The Sindh government had allotted the land to MDA for building a housing scheme.

The MDA, however, exchanged the land with Bahria Town, the court said. Bahria Town was even barred from selling any plot or apartment in the housing scheme.

In March 2019, the top court accepted Bahria Town’s offer to pay Rs460 billion to acquire 16,896 acres off Karachi’s Super Highway. It did not include Bahria Town’s Sports City project.