Suo motu action: CJ takes notice of Larkana club’s partial occupation

Orders for the matter to be registered as a human rights case.

ISLAMABAD:

The Supreme Court has taken suo motu action over the illegal occupation of a portion of the pre-partition Ladies Club in Larkana.

The court instructed that the matter should be registered as a human rights case and submitted before it.

Chief Justice of Pakistan Nasirul Mulk took notice of the news story published in The Express Tribune on February 10 under the title, “Pre-Partition heritage: Larkana’s ladies club loses portion to land mafia.” The building was built in 1937 and hence is protected under the heritage laws of Sindh.

“The matter should be registered as a human rights case and placed before the court,” said the chief justice in his order.

The Ladies Club in Larkana, which hosted the spouses of Sindh’s first chief minister and several bureaucrats, has lost a portion of its pre-Partition building to the land mafia.

Two shops that fall under the club’s jurisdiction have been occupied and the authorities have failed to pay attention to the complaints of club members.

The club represents a significant part of Larkana’s heritage and has hosted some famous guests in its time.

The club was home to cultural activities organised by Hindu, Christians and Muslim women before Partition. The land is owned by the district government but in 2004 the authorities decided to hand it over to a builder who wanted to convert it into a hotel.

A number of heritage buildings all over the country are in a dilapidated condition and the owners let such building fall to the ground so that they can be declared as dangerous and thereafter new flats/commercial plazas are built upon the site.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 15^th, 2015.