Bringing the walls down: Between encroachments on the road and protests on the streets

Accused of political victimisation, authorities face stiff resistance

DI KHAN:

The launch of an anti-encroachment campaign by the DI Khan district municipal corporation has met with strong resistance throughout the city.

For the past one week, authorities have sprung into action and started demolishing illegal obstruction on government property. The encroachers, however, have not particularly been welcoming as protesters pelted authorities with stones following action in Mission Morr. No casualties were reported, but some machinery was damaged. DI Khan municipal committee chief Atiqur Rehman later lodged an FIR against nine people at Cantt police station following the incident.

Yet, the committee was able to remove encroachments by chemist shops adjacent to District Headquarters and Teaching Hospital. Consequently, Markazi Anjuman-e-Tajiran, Markazi Tajir Ittehad and Druggists Association took to the streets and organised a sit-in in front of the hospital. They also observed a strike of chemists across the city.

“The district government partially demolished several drugstores without prior notice. The action is being carried out on the directives of the PTI leadership during this discriminatory campaign. We will continue to protest until we are compensated for our losses,” Haq Nawaz, a protester, told The Express Tribune.

Journalists also took part in the demonstrations. They alleged that the office of a local Urdu daily, Aitadal, was damaged under the pretext of encroachment near Faqirnee Gate, Circular Road in order to silence their voice. While addressing a meeting, DI Khan Union of Journalists President Saeed Khan Baloch said computers, laptops and furniture were totalled during the action. The union will continue to boycott reporting district government activities until the paper is compensated and action taken against the municipal committee.

The campaign is being blamed for political victimisation and it seems that, like yester years, the district government will soon bow to the pressure from political parties.

The administration, however, seems to be adamant for now.

“In a fresh campaign against encroachments, the district government reclaimed government land upon which illegal workshops, markets, plazas, and residential apartments had been constructed,” said Deputy Commissioner Waqar Ali Khan while briefing Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Chief Secretary Amjid Ali Khan on Thursday. The chief secretary lauded the efforts of the district government and ensured support against encroachment across the city.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 25^th, 2014.