‘This land is mine’: Arrested children find they no longer have a home to go to

Family claims private builders want to include land into their residential scheme.

KARACHI: The children and their families breathed a sigh of relief when the magistrate ordered their immediate release and ordered action to be taken against the Gulshan-e-Hadeed SHO for arresting them.

Their respite did not last long, however, as they returned home to find their houses razed, their belongings gone and their land encroached by 'thugs' who warned them to go away.



The families are now living under the open sky in Anwar Marri village in Gadap Town, The Express Tribune has learnt. An aged widow, Rasheeda Mallah, waved the lease documents of the 28-acre land as she explained that some influential persons wanted to take over their land. The land is leased in her sister's name. "We have been living here for the last 20 years," she said. "The land belongs to my sister, Shehzadi."

Rasheeda alleged that the police personnel had beaten her and her family to scare them into evacuating the land. "The police beat and dragged me and my daughters," she wept. "The police are cruel. They threw our children in police van during the raid. They beat our children and insulted and used abusive language with our girls," she burst into tears, saying there was no law for the poor. "Allah is with us," she said, pointing to the sky with her finger.

Rasheeda told The Express Tribune that police had conducted the raid with three vans and two APCs. "Do you think these minors are criminals?" she questioned. "Do my daughters looks like terrorists?"

According to sources, the problem had started when some of the builders in the area had approached Rasheeda's sons to sell the land but they had refused. The family has been receiving threats since the last three months.

An FIR was registered by the manager of a residential scheme adjacent to the land, Muhammad Daleel, against Rasheeda's son, Abdul Karim, on April 21. Karim was subsequently arrested by the police and was later released on bail. Three days later, the anti-encroachment cell sprang into action, accusing the old residents of illegally occupying the land.

"Have we occupied land of government or of a private person?" questioned one of Rasheeda's sons, Shahnawaz. "The government machinery is being used against the poor," he alleged.

The children who spent a night at the police station and were presented before the court for remand, include 10-month-old Ahsan Ali, one-year-old Muhammad Ismail, two-year-old Khair Muhammad, six-year-old Muhammad Bux, four-year-old Sidra, two-month-old Zeeshan, eight-year-old Zeban, 11-year-old Manzoor, seven-year-old Yasmeen and one-month old Asma.

Rasheeda claimed that she even lost the dowry she had been saving for her two daughters, Salma and Shahida. "They took everything away," she cried. "I was collecting their dowry since the last 10 years and had planned to arrange their wedding this year."

Another woman, Latif, who too spent a night at the police station, recalled the horrible treatment meted out to them by the officials. "They [police personnel] dragged and insulted me," she wept. "They started beating us with sticks. We kept begging them to leave us alone but our cries fell on deaf ears."

According to Shahnawaz, the land falls near a residential scheme and the builders wanted to include it into the scheme. "We lost everything: honour, belongings and our land," he said, tears welling up in his eyes as he thought of the difficult times ahead.

Meanwhile, the senior director of the anti-encroachment task force, Bilal Manzhar, and Muhammad Daleel, who had registered the first FIR against Abdul Karim, could not be contacted despite repeated attempts.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 29^th, 2014.