Residents of Saleem Colony, located near Government Islamia Science and Commerce College, Sukkur, staged a protest demonstration on Thursday against the district administration, which has ordered them to vacate the area within one week, or else their houses will be bulldozed.
The protesters, including women and children, led by Noor Ahmed and Mai Anwar gathered in the locality and shouted slogans against the district administration, which they claim wants to sell the plot to the builder mafia. The protesters alleged that they were residing in the colony for over 50 years, even before the Islamia College was established. They reasoned that administration’s claims that the land belonged to Islamia College were baseless.
The protesters lamented that influential persons had constructed big houses on the same land but no one dared touch them, while notices had been issued to the poor only. One of the protesters, Muhammad Ismail, told The Express Tribune that his forefathers had constructed the house in Saleem Colony over 50 years ago. The land was a graveyard and poor people, who were homeless at the time, had constructed their houses in the locality, he said. Ismail said that the Islamia College and its hostel had been constructed before his eyes. “How can the government claim the land belongs to the college when we were here before it was constructed?” he questioned.
Another resident, Ikramuddin, said that the residents had been provided electricity, gas and water connections, adding that if they were illegal occupants, why did the various government departments provide them these facilities.
Another protester, an elderly man who identified himself as Ghous Bux, accused the government of the double standards. He said that forcible occupation had become legitimate for the influential but when a poor person built a katcha house to provide shelter to his family, the government springs into action. Pointing towards the big, luxury houses constructed on the same land, he questioned why no notices had been issued to them. Bux said that there are more than 6,000 katcha houses in the vicinity and most of the residents were living in the colony for over 50 years.
For his part, Sukkur Revenue Mukhtiarkar Muhammad Siddiq Mahar told The Express Tribune that he was not aware of the ownership of the land on which Saleem Colony was established but he had issued notices to the residents on the instructions of the assistant commissioner.
City assistant commissioner Dr Waheed Asghar Bhatti clarified that he was not concerned with the residents of Saleem Colony. Rather, he had instructed the Mukhtiarkar to issue to notices to those persons who had illegally occupied the land of Islamia College, bearing survey numbers, 550/10 and 550/11.
According to him, a team of the survey department from Khairpur had visited Sukkur and demarcated the land, after which notices were issued to the illegal occupants.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 5th, 2014.
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