KARACHI: Tempers flared as a potential clash between supporters of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) was averted in Karachi on Saturday evening during a protest about the security wall surrounding Bilawal House.
Protesters led by PTI MNA Dr Arif Alvi and MPA Khurram Sher Zaman gathered near Bilawal Chowrangi on Saturday evening to protest the security wall, declared illegal by the court, as part of their campaign to demolish the structure.
The real Awami Log #PTI MNA Dr.Arif Alvi and on the bonut of a car he is our MPA sindh Khurrum Zaman at Bilawal house pic.twitter.com/Xqkff7kscW
— Irfan Jilani PS-127 (@IrfanJlaniPTI) December 28, 2013
They were confronted by PPP supporters, determined to stop the protesters, though both groups mostly traded slogans. A small scuffle also reportedly took place between the two groups of supporters as some people tried to march on to a blocked section of the road.
Bilawal House wall protest will remain Peaceful
— Awab Alvi (@DrAwab) December 28, 2013
We walked away from area w/o confrontation as #PPP jiyalas were geared up to fight
As tempers rose, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari responded via his twitter account that if Imran Khan, the Jamaat-e-Islami and the Prime Minister could speak up against the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, he would tear down the wall himself.
If Buzdil Khan, Nawaz Sharif and JI find the courage to say 1/2 of wht I said vs. TTP yesterday I will tear down Bilawal House wall myself.
— BilawalBhuttoZardari (@BBhuttoZardari) December 28, 2013
Back outside Bilawal House in Karachi, Arif Alvi told his supporters that “roads are for the public and no one can snatch people’s rights to use the roads.” Soon after, the protesters dispersed.
I dont begrudge security for ex-Pres Zardari and Bilawal Bhutto but there is too much inconvenience to the public of that area,SHC said same
— Dr. Arif Alvi (@ArifAlvi) December 28, 2013
Shortly thereafter, people reported that containers were being placed around Bilawal House.
#Spotted: Containers being placed to protect the walls around #BilawalHouse #Karachi pic.twitter.com/AIhdxj9ZZK
— Samra Muslim (@samramuslim) December 28, 2013
PTI started actively campaigning on social media on Friday, urging people to gather outside the Bilawal House to demolish a section of the wall deemed illegal by the court. The main protest is set for Sunday afternoon.
District south Traffic Police superintendent Tanveer Odho told The Express Tribune that they had on Saturday diverted traffic away from Khayaban-e-Saadi, on which Bilawal House is located, to avoid any untoward incident as a small group of protesters massed near the obstructions.
“We have not received any complaints from commuters regarding any sort problems they face due to the wall built along Bilawal House and I have no reports regarding any traffic mishap on this road,” said Odho, adding that the legal or illegal status of the road was the responsibility of the cantonment board under whose jurisdiction the stretch of road fell.
Additional Superintendent Police Clifton Abadit Nisar added that “the road was opened for traffic last night and traffic is on-going through per routine.”
The 50 feet-high wall, which stretches for 650m over both the main tracks of Khayaban-e-Saadi, has effectively reduced the capacity of the thoroughfare by 75 per cent. General traffic is forced to travel on what was previously a service lane to the six lane artery. The encroachment on the roads had actively begun after Asif Ali Zardari took oath as the President of Pakistan in September 2008.
The road leads from Bilawal Chowrangi to Sea View with a number of popular eateries and restaurants located on it. A popular art school is located just off the road as well.
The wall was declared illegal by the Sindh High Court in September, and upheld by the Supreme Court in October, terming the encroachment to be a violation of Article 9 of the Constitution.
The feud goes digital
PTI's campaign surfaced on social networking sites late on Friday evening when PTI MNA Dr Arif Alvi shared the event on his official Facebook page. Arif Alvi was elected from NA-250, and Bilawal House falls within his constituency.
Dr Alvi, along with other PTI party workers also took to Twitter to spread their message.
Remember folks it is a peaceful protest and the law is on our side. Bilawal House in not an issue the road blockade is.
— Dr. Arif Alvi (@ArifAlvi) December 27, 2013
According to PTI MPA Khurram Sher Zaman, one side of the road blockage has allegedly opened while the other one remains closed.
Im standing at Bilawal house roundabout road. Now they have opened 1 side but other side is still close.
— Khurrum Sher Zaman NA-241 (@KhurumSherZaman) December 28, 2013
Police is planning to arrest me at Billawal house road.
— Khurrum Sher Zaman NA-241 (@KhurumSherZaman) December 28, 2013
Pakistan People's Party (PPP) loyalists responded to the campaign.
@ArifAlvi @BBhuttoZardari @ShireenMazari1 Dr sb.. Thought you were saner than the rest of the Pti ppl around..There r better ways 2 campaign
— Dr. Sharmila sahibah faruqui (Phd) s.i (@sharmilafaruqi) December 27, 2013
All the workers of @PYO Karachi are directed to reach #BilawalHouse by 11 in the morning tomorrow.
— Malik Zameer Ahmed Awan (@ZameerAMalik) December 28, 2013
Secretary Information -#PYOKarachi.
Sindh Information Minister Sharjeel Memon hit back on Dr Awab Alvi’s clinic which allegedly violates building laws.
D32 block4 clifton.Arif Alvi's dental hospital,a commercial establishment in residential area.It is in violation. Where is INSAAF of PTI.
— Sharjeel Inam Memon (@sharjeelinam) December 28, 2013
Members of other political parties including the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) also responded to the campaign.
Join PTI, they are looking for all possible excuses ;) “@norbalm: I want a Dharna against 31st Dec Road Closures in #DHA & #Clifton”
— Syed Ali Raza Abidi (@abidifactor) December 28, 2013
COMMENTS (37)
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Mr Alvi's family is building a dental clinic in a residential area without approval. He is not going to win in future, a neighbor told me.
This was not a big issue. There was peaceful protest going on by local NA250 residents and PTI supporters. This was turned to a big Drama and blown out of proportion by dirty party called PPP. Their workers came out with guns and ammunition to intimidate the protestors and were creating disruption in the area. Police is extremely politicized and started beating the protestors who were protesting peacefully. Shame on PPP and its dirty, cheap politics.
@Munis saraiki:
What PPP govt has given this country in 5 years of their rule ? Let us be very practical...I,m not a supporter of any particular party, but PPP govt has proved a failure, that is why they could not get re elected this year ? We are such an emotional lot that we just shut our eyes to reality and do not have he courage to face truth....unless we come out of false shell, we will remain ignorant and fight without knowing the truth....we have become a nation of nomadic tribes...just moving with the herd we think we belong to that tribe, actually we are just following a blind person into a blind alley.....the very reason of the mess we are in today.
@Zif: Lets leave the country to them, and move somewhere else? They will have a lot of space for security.
Another "Berlin Wall" is getting demolished. History doth repeat itself !!
why must everything be turned into a political drama? it is a simple matter of violating public property rights. does the entire area belong to the bhutto family? no, it is public property meant to be used by citizens of Pakistan. It is sad to see members of political parties lacking common sense. they have a need to turn everything into a drama. for the record, i do not support one party or the other, but am talking from the stand point of common sense and the point of view of an ordinary citizen.
no matter what the title of buzdil khan will not change :)
After reading through barrage of comments, it seems that because pti has not condemned ttp, therefore it is justified to build castles on public property. I am an eye witness of how the encroachment has suffered commuters and business along that road. Many left their business and many force vacated homes in the neighbourhood. Be it China town restaurant or a medical store or a fruit merchant, ever single person is suffering. Their suffering is neither heard nor realized by dwellers of Fort Bilawal. One service lan, then two-way beautiful road was systematically snached from public. MBB used to live there in peace without making it a fortress, because she was sensible person and a great leader who enjoyed public support and never wanted to suffer them. What a lady of honour she was!
Breaking law has become right of law-makers, a great dilemma this nation is suffering from.
Would it not be great if BH may kindly be moved within the US Consulate? just a few kilo meters away from BH for absolute security and peace of mind.
PS: BTW, pti workers can not break that wall as it is so strongly built that only bulldozes can do chip it away, so no worries guys :)
@Doctor Ghulam Mustfa:
Its absolutely a trivial matter... but that's ok because PTI is a trivial party... In fact PTI can be an acronym for "Protesting Trivial Issues"...
@Dajjal: It is not a trivial matter. The road was built with tax payers money for the public. No one has the right to rob people of this facility. Security is no excuse to block the road. Bilawal is a brave person any way as he himself bragged couple of days ago.
@Dajjal That's what a political party is supposed to do, i.e. safeguard the public interest and PTI is the only political party doing just that while all the others are busy looting the country.
This wall mean we are still living in a society of kingdom this is completely against the democracy. This wall must go down to show what kind of society we want for our next generation.
why does pti not tear down the saudi consulate wall
Pti supporting their freinds to attack bilawal house.. After elections wat pti given to dis country its only dharnas protests etc bt no protests against their freinds TTP
I'm shocked at the behaviour of PTI workers. What are they upto? How insensitive of them. Don't they know Bilawal's mother was killed and he also has death threats. Moreover, we all know to what sect Bhutto family belong and the very same sect is under attack from talibans. Are they paving the way of taliban attack by demanding to open the road especially nowadays? Highly disappointing bahaviour of the followers of Taliban Khan!
Although PTI has hardly supported PMLN in its endeavor towards implementation of law yet the PMLN fully supports the action towards implementation of the order of Sindh High. Court. A large number of residents of Clifton have been deprived of double road from Kharkar Chowrangi towards SeaView Chowrangi and their right has been usurped by the PPP Governemnt despite the fact that Mr. Asif Ali Zardari hardly lives in this residence. BUT there are still far more encroachments in Clifton, especially around 90 Clifton (by SZABIST University), on the service road encroached by Russian Consulate & its vicinities including Olivetto restaurant and an apartments complex. Then another avenue has been encroached to please the Chinese Consulate. The anti-encroachment drive should be across-the-board and must remove the encroachments by former President, bungalows-based University, restaurants, clinics and even foreign consulates causing inconvenience to the residents of Clifton & DHA. We need Justice for All. Long Live Pakistan!
PTI has turned out to be nothing but a populist rabble-rouser. I am so glad I didn't vote for them. I don't care about PPP, and am absolutely against encroachments into public spaces, but the ordinary, mundane course of law, even if inefficient and delayed, must be allowed to determine the outcome. By taking the law into its own hands on arbitrarily identified issues, PTI is fooling no one except those it has already fooled into support.
Sad but true, this road closure was wrong, we all know it.
Now that even the bakwaas court system has said it is illegal + it is not a Presidential residence, PPP must respect the public it claims to love and not hinder road opening.
First open the road, then later arrange for take down of wall between China town service lane and former main right side of road.
So many roads are blocked in Karachi, it's not fair.
Next PTI mission should be court ordered regulation of CM house road closure. That guy shuts down a main route to and from Chunrigar if a bird sneezes too loud. Himself he is some 600 meters away from the gate and walls, so there should be enough room for our cheetah security forces to provide security. There is no need to close the 50 metres (and therefore whole road) between state life building and Sheraton.
Law should prevail but vigilante justice must be discouraged. PTI should protest and demad to take action but stay away from wall. PTI has no authority to implement court's orders.
Naya Pakistan in full action in Karachi now... Bravo PTI!
'The people are like the cattle.' says an Arabic proverb. PPP followers worship AZ and BBZ and they consider him above all laws. Like they have have given BB the title of 'The martyr queen'. This is happening not in medieval period but in the twenty-first century. Proves the truth in the proverb mentioned above.
PTI and its priorities. Breaking walls, harassing drivers, holding rallies. All the while there are provincial assemblies and parliament to talk about issues in, courts to work through and the media to act as loudspeaker. Joker party.
I live in NA250 and I support this movementfully! By the way, I am not a PTI supporter.
my relatives lives in Clifton and they facing problems due to illegal wall of Bilawal House. Anybody who has seen what PPP Jiyalas have done to the area approaching Bilawal House would support the idea of bringing those obstacles down. It’s simply depriving people in the vicinity a normal access to their homes / workplaces. Even better; bulldoze the Bilawal House!
Commendable move by PTI. PPP disrespecting SHC judgement that said this wall is 'illegal'. Bhuttos do not own Pakistan !
This wall must come down. Pakistan is not anyone's emperor.
The wall must go down. I am a resident of NA250 and it has been disrupting our lives daily as the road blockage disrupts traffic flow. I am not a PTI supporter but I support them on this. It is surprising to see some other parties are actually bashing PTI for this move. So much hatred filled in our society. Its ridiculous.
The "Wall" should Not have been there in the first place. Its time Bilawal Zardari should bring it down himself. It might bring some solace to his grand father's troubled soul.
PTI is indeed Jamaat-e-Islami in Jeans. Luth Bardaar out to stop pakhtoon divers from earning a living, jamming Mall road Lahore, and now in Karachi. What's next.
Arif Alvi is building a dental clinic in a residential area without approval. Hypocrite!
As it so often happens, we know on which side of the law lie our traditional parties and who are the ones wanting to uphold law.
That wall has been decleared illegal by the SHC, authorities only have one duty: bring that wall down. It is simple as that.
The real question here is why the wall hasn't been demolished despite the court's verdict. Is this not contempt of court?
PPP will have to reap what they sowed against MQM. It will be even more interesting when they will have a conflict with ANP one day.
Typical response of a slave mind. PTI annoyed at one wall and there is absolute silence or rather full support for atrocities by Taliban including casualties with more than 40 dead.
Doesn't PTI have anything better to do then protest about one pointless issue after another or is that the only thing on their Party Manifesto besides Making Promises which they cant fulfill then distract everyone before people start asking questions...
Now who is 'BUZDIL'.Those who close public roads in front of their bunkers or others who keep it open.