Perween Rehman: Purveyor of social justice

Fearless and selfless, the social worker criticised land and water mafias and empowered the underprivileged

Known for her vocalisation against land and water mafias, Perween Rehman was a passionate and brilliant urban planner who worked for the betterment of the underprivileged. She was always enthusiastic about helping impoverished communities.

According to her sister Aquila Ismail, Rehman's thesis in 1981 was a study of a low-income area. "She went to Quaidabad, a low-income area and she started studying the standardisation of spaces. She did not choose things like building a house in Defence or landscaping, she chose to study low-income groups."

Rehman witnessed the trauma or displacement at a young age. Born in 1957 in Dhaka, she vividly recalled the 1971 war in the compelling documentary, Parween Rehman: The Rebel Optimist.

We experienced being thrown out of our house at gunpoint. We came to Pakistan with nothing and that period of our lives taught us that material things don't matter.

According to her sister, whenever Rehman would hear of someone being evicted in Karachi, she could not bear it, the incident in Dhaka is perhaps what triggered her lifelong 'obsession with the security of housing'. Rehman joined the Orangi Pilot Project in 1982 as an intern. There Rehman worked tirelessly to upgrade the living situation of those in informal settlements, by building appropriate sanitation and water supply infrastructure and safer housing. In 1988, she was promoted to the position of Director of OPP Research and Training Institute.

Perween Rehman was solely responsible for mapping every informal settlement in Karachi. She described mapping as an essential tool for urban planning and the protection of informal settlements. "It's easy to steal if there is no map available. Without a map, you do not have any proof of developmental work. There is a lot of corruption involved when it comes to this."

An employee who worked under Rehman recalled how in 2007 informal settlements were demolished because they had not been mapped. After that incident, Rehman was adamant that every informal settlement in Pakistan should be mapped so that they could be protected from land mafias and demolition.

Rehman's relentless effort led to the formation of laws related to informal settlements; such as the National Sanitation Policy of the Federal Government; which primarily focuses on safe liquid and solid waste disposal as well as personal and public hygiene and waste reduction "to achieve sustainable environmental goals".

"The map helped the government and the people. The government to announce land title and the people to get it. The government's data showed that there are only about four hundred such settlements but our mapping showed that there are more than two thousand such settlements (in Karachi).The idea was to make the government understand that there are too many and you cannout just evict them."

Rehman also initiated the 'Orangi Pilot Project's Earthquake' and Flood Relief as well as 'Rehabilitation Program(s),' for which she received international attention from renowned institutions such as Harvard, MIT, Berkley and London School of Economics.

According to urban planner Arif Hasan, Perween Rehman refused to accept loans from USAID, World Bank and Asian Development Bank. "She would not associate with their projects except to learn and give feedback."

"Instead of parterning with institutions such as the World Bank or IMF, we should encourage the government to partner with it's own people. This holds the key to sustainability."

Rehman spent her life spreading awareness about corruption and land and water mafias; she was dedicated to helping and empowering the under-served communities.

"41% of Karachi's water is stolen and the ones who steal water are not the poor but are a big group of influential people who have full support from the government and the police."

On March 13, 2013, four gunmen opened fire on her near the Pirabad police station in Orangi. In 2020, a Joint Investigation Team (JIT) informed the Supreme Court that the motive behind her murder was land grabbing.

"The motive behind her murder was to grab the OPP office land. The accused were Pashtun and could not tolerate a Bihari lady heading a major organisation in the predominantly Pashtun and Afghan area,” the JIT's final report stated.

Recently, Google paid tribute to the selfless urban planner by showcasing a doodle of her on her birth anniversary. Rehman's work and initiatives have helped more than 3 million people in Pakistan and continue to do so. Rehman's legacy has been ingrained in the laws that were passed based on her initiatives and the people she has helped.