PPP leads demo against metro train

Protesters fill up trench dug up at Jain Mandir

LAHORE: Pakistan People’s Party Lahore leaders and activists led a protest demonstration at Jain Mandir on Monday against the Orange Line Metro Train project.

A large number of women and children from Kapoorthala House joined them. A trench dug for a foundation was refilled by the protesters. Women and children chanted Marain gay mar jaien gay, apnay ghar bachain gay and Khooni train band karo.

Addressing the protesters, PPP Lahore Information Secretary Faisal Mir said that an underground train project had been envisioned for Lahore in 2006. “It was to run underground and would have the capacity to carry 380,000 passengers daily. However, the metro train being built now will mostly run above ground and transport only 25,000 people. Thousands of homes and businesses will be destroyed in the process. More than 25 historical sites will also be affected by the project,” he said.

Mir said that the government’s actions in this regard resembled those of an occupying force. “Israeli forces give just two hours’ notice to Palestinians before they demolish their homes. The same is being done here. The PPP will not let Shahbaz Sharif turn Lahore into an occupied territory. It will stand by the affected families,” he said. He said that only 2.2 per cent of Lahoris and 0.2 per cent of the population of the Punjab would benefit from the project.

He demanded that the government stop the construction work and call for a public review. “Every citizen affected by the project should be consulted. Steps should be taken to save residential areas and historical sites,” he said.

PPP Zone 154 president Dr Zarrar Yousaf said that a similar train project had been completed in Rio de Janeiro in 2015 at a cost of $31 million. “Whereas, the Shahbaz Sharif government is million of dollars more on the project,” he said.

“The Acquisition of Land Act, 1884, is also being violated. According to the law, if a property is acquired for a public project, its owner should be paid 25 per cent more than the market value. However, in this case, the government is offering people 75 per cent less than the market value. So far, no money has been paid. If anyone protests against the government, they are threatened by police. Citizens are thus being deprived of their legal and constitutional rights,” he said.

Yousuf demanded that the chief justice take notice of the injustice being done to the citizens.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 19^th, 2016.