When Karachi’s former mayor Niamatullah Khan went to the Supreme Court to try to evict squatters from parks in the city, he knew he and his party would not be popular for the decision. Indeed, the residents of Azizabad were considerably unhappy on Thursday when a city team tore down a library that was built in 1987, albeit illegally, in a park. This was the second day the city government went about complying with the apex court’s orders to clear out 164 sites in Khan’s presence.
The city government was quick to distance itself from the demolition, preferring to pin the blame on Niamatullah Khan. “It is not the city government but the former city nazim who is behind this,” said a CDGK spokesman. “The next episode would be devastating when the squad goes take down mosques and imambargahs in parks.”
Indeed, this will prove a sore point with the public. However, Niamatullah Khan’s party, the conservative Jamaat-e-Islami, pointed out that building offices, mosques or imambargahs in parks was illegal according to the law and was hence not kosher with the religion either. But the JI is aware of the possible public backlash, especially when the demolition squads head for mosques and imambargahs. It questioned the city government’s decision to pick a library for demolition. “This was a trick to instigate the people against the demolition process so that the process could be discontinued midway to protect Muttahida Qaumi Movement offices,” said the JI’s spokesman Safaraz. Party offices illegally set up in parks were the main thrust of the constitutional petition, he added.
For their part, however, the city’s District Officer Rasheed Jamal said that no political party offices existed in parks or on playgrounds. As far as the MQM is concerned, he said that its offices were as “well-organised as the party itself” and are not located in any park or playground. He explained to The Express Tribune that Niamatullah Khan had mistakenly presumed the party had offices on amenity plots because a few union councils had put up portraits of MQM chief Altaf Hussein and MQM party flags.
There was criticism for the Jamaat-e-Islami when the squad tore down the library. “It was a library so it should be exempted,” said a resident. Another said that it had existed when Niamatullah was nazim, so why did he not tear it down then?
Published in The Express Tribune, March 4th, 2011.
COMMENTS
Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.
For more information, please see our Comments FAQ