Residents, businesses protest eviction drive

LAHORE:

Scores of residents of Kapoorthala House held a flash protest against the provincial government’s plan to evict them to make way for the Orange Line Metro Train project.

The protesters blocked the road for traffic and chanted slogans against the government.

Traffic was diverted to adjacent roads until the demonstration ended following some negotiation with a police team.

The protesters held placards saying that they would not let the government displace them from their houses. Some placards said that there could never be adequate compensation for acquisition of land under private use.

A large number of protestors were women. Khadija Bibi, one of the protesters, asked what was the use of a train service built after displacing hundreds of families? She said people’s livelihoods were associated with the area and it would be difficult for them to set up businesses and find jobs elsewhere.

Mehwish Imran, another protestor, said her family had not been able to come to terms with the idea of moving to another locality. She said her parents had been living in Kapoorthala House since before her birth. She said she had also started a family and raised her seven children in the area. She said she was now a widow and a woman of modest means.

Another protestor said relocation would affect her husband’s business and their children’s education.

Muhammad Ramazan, 24, a motor mechanic, condemned the government for evicting people from their houses and shops. He vowed to resist evictions till his last breath.

Another shopkeeper said it had taken him several decades to establish a name in the area for his catering business. He said if he was forced to relocate to another area he would have to start the business afresh.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 31^st, 2016.