Displaced 23 years ago, families homeless again as law takes course
Supreme Court ordered eviction of people living illegally in Postal Colony flats.
KARACHI:
On Saturday, police commandoes forced out 40 families from an apartment complex in North Nazimabad, bringing an end to days of struggle by the residents, who had found refuge in Karachi after the 1989 ethnic riots in Sindh – albeit illegally.
Armed policemen sealed the doors of flats in the D-section of the Postal Colony apartments in compliance with the Supreme Court order. For days, authorities had been trying to vacate the flats, but those living inside were adamant on staying, saying they had nowhere else to go.
During the late 1980s, language riots broke out in many cities of Sindh after Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) – then the Mohajir Qaumi Movement – won the mayor seats of Hyderabad and Karachi. Hundreds were displaced from both sides.
The people from Larkana, Hyderabad, Sukkur and Jacobabad were settled in state-owned apartments across Karachi. But the government employees – the actual owners of these flats – had been seeking their eviction for years.
“I came here along with 10 others from the Mohajir Colony in Jacobabad after armed men attacked our homes,” says Afsar Khan. “We thought our own people will help us.”
“So this is what you have given us,” he said, gesturing toward the household items he was able to collect over the two generations – few chairs, a wooden cupboard, a water cooler and clothes piled up in a heap. Khan, a father of seven, sells burgers at a roadside stall. He is now moving in with his relatives. In most cases, more than one family was sharing the two-room flats at the Postal Colony residential complex. They were not paying any rent.
Eviction orders were served to the residents at the Postal Colony apartments after a Supreme Court verdict. Karachi Commissioner Roshan Ali Sheikh says the authorities had to follow the court’s directive. “I personally think these people were given enough time,” he said referring to the period of 22 years elapsed since the families moved in.
“There are no ‘no-go areas’ in this country,” he said. “These people can go back to wherever they came from. [But] I am sure they have sold their properties.”
Muhammad Rasheed is another person who settled in the flats years ago. His parents had migrated from India soon after the Partition and settled in rural Sindh. “Do you really think after so many years in Karachi, I can go back to lead a normal life there? Would the locals accept me? Will I get my property back,” he speculated.
The people The Express Tribune spoke to were bitter about the MQM. “They didn’t help us [back] then and haven’t done anything now,” a young man said. “We went to the markaz (MQM headquarters known as Nine-Zero) and met many party workers but my family has been evicted.”
The party’s hands are tied after the court order and the prevailing political climate of Sindh, a leader of the MQM said. “If we try to stop the eviction, we will be accused of attacking the judiciary.”
“There is so much ethnic politics and violence going on right now that we can’t even speak in favour of these people openly,” he said. “We will be marked out for supporting Mohajirs and attacked by opponents on this front as well.”
During the ethnic riots, Sindhi-speaking people were also persecuted in Karachi. No authentic record is available to ascertain the number of families that migrated from Karachi due to tensions in 1989. But Jeay Sindh Qaumi Mahaz general secretary Asif Baladi says the numbers are often exaggerated. “To the best of my knowledge, nothing remarkable happened. There were displacements from both sides but it was nothing chaotic.”
Published in The Express Tribune, August 26th, 2012.
On Saturday, police commandoes forced out 40 families from an apartment complex in North Nazimabad, bringing an end to days of struggle by the residents, who had found refuge in Karachi after the 1989 ethnic riots in Sindh – albeit illegally.
Armed policemen sealed the doors of flats in the D-section of the Postal Colony apartments in compliance with the Supreme Court order. For days, authorities had been trying to vacate the flats, but those living inside were adamant on staying, saying they had nowhere else to go.
During the late 1980s, language riots broke out in many cities of Sindh after Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) – then the Mohajir Qaumi Movement – won the mayor seats of Hyderabad and Karachi. Hundreds were displaced from both sides.
The people from Larkana, Hyderabad, Sukkur and Jacobabad were settled in state-owned apartments across Karachi. But the government employees – the actual owners of these flats – had been seeking their eviction for years.
“I came here along with 10 others from the Mohajir Colony in Jacobabad after armed men attacked our homes,” says Afsar Khan. “We thought our own people will help us.”
“So this is what you have given us,” he said, gesturing toward the household items he was able to collect over the two generations – few chairs, a wooden cupboard, a water cooler and clothes piled up in a heap. Khan, a father of seven, sells burgers at a roadside stall. He is now moving in with his relatives. In most cases, more than one family was sharing the two-room flats at the Postal Colony residential complex. They were not paying any rent.
Eviction orders were served to the residents at the Postal Colony apartments after a Supreme Court verdict. Karachi Commissioner Roshan Ali Sheikh says the authorities had to follow the court’s directive. “I personally think these people were given enough time,” he said referring to the period of 22 years elapsed since the families moved in.
“There are no ‘no-go areas’ in this country,” he said. “These people can go back to wherever they came from. [But] I am sure they have sold their properties.”
Muhammad Rasheed is another person who settled in the flats years ago. His parents had migrated from India soon after the Partition and settled in rural Sindh. “Do you really think after so many years in Karachi, I can go back to lead a normal life there? Would the locals accept me? Will I get my property back,” he speculated.
The people The Express Tribune spoke to were bitter about the MQM. “They didn’t help us [back] then and haven’t done anything now,” a young man said. “We went to the markaz (MQM headquarters known as Nine-Zero) and met many party workers but my family has been evicted.”
The party’s hands are tied after the court order and the prevailing political climate of Sindh, a leader of the MQM said. “If we try to stop the eviction, we will be accused of attacking the judiciary.”
“There is so much ethnic politics and violence going on right now that we can’t even speak in favour of these people openly,” he said. “We will be marked out for supporting Mohajirs and attacked by opponents on this front as well.”
During the ethnic riots, Sindhi-speaking people were also persecuted in Karachi. No authentic record is available to ascertain the number of families that migrated from Karachi due to tensions in 1989. But Jeay Sindh Qaumi Mahaz general secretary Asif Baladi says the numbers are often exaggerated. “To the best of my knowledge, nothing remarkable happened. There were displacements from both sides but it was nothing chaotic.”
Published in The Express Tribune, August 26th, 2012.