Colleagues vow to carry on Perween’s mission

OPP staffers share working experiences with former director.

KARACHI: March 13, 2013, will go down in history as the day when the saviour of the poor of Karachi was lost to the brutal violence that haunts the city everyday.

On Wednesday, at 7:20pm, the exact time when Orangi Pilot Project (OPP) former director Perween Rahman was targeted last year, many co-workers and friends sat on white cotton mats at Urban Resource Centre’s office to remember Rahman’s sacrifices.

Rahman is cherished across the country and also globally because she spent her life serving other people, said OPP director Anwar Rashid in his speech to the workers of the project at her first death anniversary. “Today, a year has passed since Rahman left us. It feels like that these words are from yesterday. She is here, her name is here and her words are here,” said Rashid opening a discussion on Rahman. Earlier, OPP staffers offered Quran khawani for their slain teacher.



Rashid asked every staffer of the OPP to stand and say a few words on their experience about working with Rahman and how it changed after her death. Though everyone agreed that no one can fill the space Rahman left behind, they vowed to continue her work with zeal and enthusiasm.

“I feel like a student who took admission in a university but the university closed down before the completion of the course. The student has to finish all responsibilities that have now fallen upon his shoulders,” said OPP Research and Training Institute joint-director Salim Alimuddin. Alimuddin, who survived a targeted attack on his car in the same locality where Rahman was murdered, said that the space she left behind remains unfilled, adding that it is a difficult task to shoulder the burden of work she has left behind but they will work hard to complete her mission.

Architect and OPP chairperson Tasneem Ahmed Siddiqui lauded the efforts of the OPP staffers who have continued their work in Orangi despite threats that emerged after the twin attacks on their seniors. Tasneem said, “Rahman used to say she has no part in the work which is going on. It is happening because of the efforts of staffers and the people for which it is done.”

“I am happy to see the work to which Rahman was dedicated is still going on. We have to keep faith that time will pass and these difficult days will be over. We have to continue our work for the people. Some people are born to help others.” He further told his staffers that their work has helped people across the country and they have to keep going on.

“If you stop, you will bring shame to Rahman’s efforts.” He urged them to stay united and carry on Rahman’s work. “If you get divided into groups, then her mission would come to a close.”

For architect Arif Hasan, she was a good student and friend. He found her to be a strong woman. It was her strength that brought the OPP to this point, he said. “She tried to learn from everyone, which is why she became a person of such high calibre,” he said, adding that OPP staffers have requisite knowledge and capabilities and they should keep the principles of the OPP alive.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 14^th, 2014.