Pakistan

Land Mafia crackdown continues in Karachi

In an anti encroachment drive in Karachi, 8 protesters were injured by police shelling at the national highway.

Express July 17, 2010

In an anti encroachment drive in Karachi, eight protesters were injured by police shelling at the national highway.

The anti encroachment operation was launched by the government to retrieve land from illegal occupants at Baldia Town and other areas of Karachi.

More than 25 people have been arrested during the police operation.

The police resorted to firing when the illegal occupants tried to put up resistance. Three policemen were also injured when the protestors hurled stones at them.

Due to the intensity of the situation, a heavy police contingent and rangers were called in to disperse the protesters.

COMMENTS (7)

Asad | 14 years ago | Reply The operation should be launched right from the castles of the big fish who have barricaded entire avenues infront of their places instead of the poor themselves. The government should bulldoze illegal plazas built on amenity plots, and also nab officials in the KBCA who allowed the rampant construction of massive residential blocks in localities like Gulistan-e-Johor etc. during the 1990s and so on. Also government officials in different institutions should be taken to task for causing this mess to further complicate in the first place. Rather then just shanty towns, the CDGK and Sindh Government should also act against bureaucrats and other influential people who have occupied state land, and also are behind these flimsy mafias. Also, if the government is serious about it, it should copy the Singapore model where the government has constructed public housing and runs them quite efficiently, but all of such projects will require an in depth study of the current environment in Karachi, and rather then just copy pasting blue prints from other cities, we need to develop a plan which would suit our current and future needs keeping in mind the city's environment and culture. High prices of houses is the prime reason behind such settlements amongst the poor, also if the government does not come up with a long term plan, such shanty towns will re appear sooner or later, after all these people do need shelter!

Express | 14 years ago | Reply @Imran, very very true.

VIEW MORE COMMENTS

SB | 14 years ago | Reply Land mafia is also in Korangi Industrial Area ....and the police is involved in it ! right from the top level !

Ahsan J. | 14 years ago | Reply These are the poor people that end up buying the land from the mafia. If they were the mafia, they would not have resisted the way they these people did. They would've just ran away. Although I laud the decision to take action against the Mafia, but the govt has to differentiate between victim and the criminal. And they should show some empathy towards the victims. Not beat them up in front of Television

amjad ahsan | 14 years ago | Reply it will be a good step for the city if it is carried out even handedly not only against certain ethnic groups but against all the land grabbers who have forcibly occupied land in the city. our media has always projected & portrayed the land grabbers as the innocent victims whenever the authorities have tried to free up illegally occupied land.The land grabbers put their women at the front so that the media can portray that the police is beating up women when infact these women are criminals as they have occupied land for free which is not theirs,it is the property of someone else. since when just being a woman a justification for commiting crimes.

imran | 14 years ago | Reply haahaa....they r shelling on the common men...who hv been conned by the land mafia who sold them these lands....when will they(govt.) catch any real mafia ppl or BIG FISH as they say......its an eyewash....

Tanzeel | 14 years ago | Reply These illegal Goths are backed by ANP and PPP. Even today protesters were holding PPP flags and yesterday ANP goons opened fired on Police and Rangers. I believe Rangers should be given task to cleansed those areas in their way, no matter how many casualities take place.

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