Daily Times

The occupation of Sindh’s lands is not a new phenomenon. This saga started back in September 1948 with the new rulers sidelining the native leaders and arbitrarily designating Karachi a federal territory. Karachi was declared one-district. Karachi Development Authority was established in 1957. In the name of development, many ancestral villages surrounding Karachi, which were home to many Sindhis, were demolished to free up land for new neighbourhoods. This forced acquisition of land under colonial laws continued unabated until 1972.

With the advent of the first bout of PPP rule, the one-district status of the city was abolished. First three districts and later one more were carved out of the city and the People’s Municipal Committees were established. In 1993, the third PPP rule created Malir district and the Malir Development Authority (MDA). General Musharraf abolished all districts including MDA and revived the old single-district status of Karachi; handing it over to the MQM mayors. What happened to the city’s public land, amenity plots and parks during this period is in itself a painful episode.

The PPP again came into power in 2008, where it still remains. The Malir district was revived along with the MDA. The Malir district consists of 650,000 acres of land with ancient villages as well as private land belonging to Sindhis and the Baloch; including Gabols, Kalmatis, Brohis, Khashkhelis, Jokhios and many other tribes. The other five districts of the city comprise only 257,000 acres. The vast tracks of land in Malir have given the powerful elite cause to salivate.

The ordeal of farming communities will continue unless either the SC or NAB comes to their rescue. To mitigate their pain, I dare to suggest that the Rs 460-billion fine imposed on BTK be handed over to them as a trust or endowment fund to be collectively managed by them

Cloaking their corporate interests and fortune seeking designs with saintly robes, the powerful elite conceived low cost housing schemes for the people. This scheme received a fillip when a new fort-like Bilawal House was found in Bahria Town Lahore in 2011; which then President Asif Ali Zardari declared his base to retrieve the dwindling political fortunes of the PPP in Punjab. Riaz Malik had been eyeing Sindh for a mega housing project for some years. However, the security conditions in the city and the difficulty in acquiring land were deterring him. With a friendly party in power, the blueprint for Bahria Town Karachi (BTK) was drawn and readied for execution. However, there were snags. The Supreme Court, in a landmark judgment, banned the sale, lease and allotment of state land to private housing schemes in 2012. This ban is still in force. This tied the hands of the provincial administration to lease out state land to BTK.

In 2011, the provincial administration allotted 11068 acres of public land to the MDA at concessional rates. The MDA deposited Ra 1.6 billion into the provincial exchequer. However, all knew that the MDA lacked financial resources and the capacity to undertake any huge housing scheme. The DHA Karachi, with all its old and new phases, sprawls over a land mass of slightly over 8000 acres. Only a few knew of the real motive behind the allotment of this land to MDA. Soon this deceitful stratagem would be visible to all.

BTK started purchasing private lands scattered over separate areas and ejecting the farming communities through the direct and indirect help of the Sindh police and revenue officials. However, it seemed difficult for BTK to consolidate the land to set the monster project rolling. Finally, it struck an agreement with the MDA for exchange of land in 2012. Interestingly, the MDA handed over its consolidated land of 7000 acres to BTK in exchange for scattered pieces of land. The deal reeked of foul designs.

The Supreme Court took suo moto notice of this deceitful exchange of land. The three-judge bench, by a majority decision with the dissenting note of Justice Maqbool Baqar, declared this exchange of land unlawful. During the pendency of the case, the building of BTK remained in full swing. The SC constituted a separate bench for the implementation of its judgment. The latter ordered a survey of the land under occupation of BTK. It was reported to be 16500 acres. This included the 7000 acres acquired by BTK from the MDA. The bench regularised this unlawful occupation of private lands after imposing a heavy fine of Rs 460 billion on the BTK in land value settlement for compensation to the farming communities.

The BTK should have stopped here and avoided expanding the monster project. However, with the connivance of the provincial administration and powerful elite, the expansion of the project did not stop devouring more of the ancestral properties of villagers and farming communities. The local community has been valiantly resisting the BTK for the past 5-6 years – first under the heroic leadership Faiz Muhammad Gabol – affectionately called Mama Faiz — and then his brave daughters after his demise a couple of years ago. The political parties were late to join this legitimate rights movement of the farming communities.

The ordeal of the farming communities is not over. The inhumanity and indignity suffered by them continues unabated. This would continue unless a powerful institution such as the SC or else NAB comes to their rescue. To mitigate their pain and misery they have suffered thus far, I dare to suggest that the Rs 460-billion fine imposed on BTK be handed over to them as a trust or endowment fund to be collectively managed by them.

The affected farming families should be given 30 percent permanent and non-transferable share-holding in all the current as well as future commercial activities of BTK with free of cost residences and jobs commensurate with their education and skills without gender discrimination. This has been commendably done by Sindh Engro Coal Mining Company in Tharparkar. These conditions should be strictly applied to all the public and private projects along the Super Highway including DHA city and Air Force Airport and Housing Schemes.

(Concluded)

The writer teaches law at the Multimedia University Malaysia and holds a Ph.D