An unstoppable Mafia

Dictionary definitions of the word 'mafia' all agree — a mafia is a criminal group that is tightly organised, efficient and ruthless and today in the modern world the traditional Sicilian Mafia still operates nationally and internationally but it has spawned a myriad imitators and mafias are everywhere. There are perhaps hundreds in Pakistan, large and small and local as well as operating nationally. Land mafias are common in both rural and urban settings. There is often semi-official collusion with the mafias as civil administrations have been penetrated by them and corrupted, sometimes on a very large scale.

A four-acre plot close to Karachi airport has been in the hands of one such mafia for several years and construction has now started on a large scale with the support and engagement of the Sindh government. Supposedly the land is to be used for “civil aviation” and the land mafia has tried to occupy it in 2008, but a boundary wall was built and the attempt to take over the land was thwarted. Boundary walls are little protection from bulldozers and other heavy equipment. With construction now underway with the obvious collusion of the civil administration there is nothing that can be done to prevent the land being illegally developed.

Why this particular piece of Mafioso activity matters is that there is a wider concern not only about the illegality of it but the security threat that is presented. Karachi is a busy airport with prominent national and international figures going in and out. Much of the construction is close to the entrance of the airport and it takes little imagination to deduce that any person or group may be able to position themselves with weapons in such a way as to interdict traffic to and fro. The Civil Aviation Authority was clearly alert to the potential dangers and the aviation division has requested the home minister to stop the illegal construction. Stay orders have been issued and the case is to be heard on May 24^th 2018. Would a mafia have an interest in securing a vantage point such as this? Of course they would.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 14^th, 2018.

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