Jumping ahead: Bilawal House to let go of barriers on main road

Zardari gives orders to remove barriers a week after PPP asked Rangers for exemption

KARACHI:

Clifton residents may finally be able to drive freely to Sea View from Boat Basin as the barriers outside Bilawal House that had been blocking the main thoroughfare for several years are coming down.

Nearly a week after the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) wrote to the Rangers DG to exempt the residence of the party chairman from their drive against barriers and no-go areas in the city, the party surprisingly announced on Tuesday that it will take down the blockades on its own. They had said that the place holds significance as a president camp office from when Asif Ali Zardari was the president of Pakistan.

“Despite security threats, we are removing the barriers in front of Bilawal House on the instructions of former president Asif Ali Zardari,” said PPP vice-president Sherry Rehman, adding that necessary directives have also been issued to Sindh Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah.

The residents are rejoicing the news. “We are happy that the barriers have been taken down since they were a hindrance in traffic and communication,” said 20-year-old Amna.

Other residents pointed out how the large walls along the main road were a hindrance in daily commute. “Hopefully, open access to the road will ease traffic hurdles for the residents of [Clifton] Block 2,” said a 19-year-old young man, who lives in the apartments opposite Bilawal House.

The party did fail, however, to confirm whether or not the walls built on the main road will be taken down as well. Bilawal House spokesperson Eijaz Durrani only spoke about the barriers placed on both ends of Sharae Saadi. These barriers were erected in consultation with the Sindh government and the law enforcers given security threats. It will be the Sindh government’s prerogative to remove them, he said.

These barriers were put up during 2008 and 2013 when the PPP government was in power, said a government official, adding that the barriers may be taken down on Tuesday night.

Following the raid at Muttahida Qaumi Movement headquarters on March 11, Rangers DG Bilal Akbar had given a three-day deadline to the residents of Karachi to take down barriers in their neighbourhood. A few days ago, the DG had conveyed a message to the party leadership — through information minister Sharjeel Memon — to remove the barriers at Bilawal House otherwise it would be difficult for them to take action across the board, claimed party sources.

However, Memon insisted the decision was their own and they have not succumbed to ‘any pressure’. “How can the Rangers pressurise us into removing the barriers that they put up in the past?” he asked. The PPP made this decision for the sake of the ongoing operation in Karachi and the barriers were main hurdles in pursuing terrorists and criminals, he said.

Meanwhile, PPP Sindh general secretary Senator Taj Haider also issued a statement in which he drew parallels between the security at Bilawal House and those given to consulates. The provision of security by the government was directly related to the threat perception to a person or place, said his statement, giving examples of the consulates of the US, Iran and Saudi Arabia, where barriers have been erected and road closed for vehicular traffic.

The demand to remove barriers from around Bilawal House was not only illogical but was also driven by hatred and prejudice, claimed Haider. Why did those elements not demand the removal of barriers near the US Embassy or the British High Commission, he questioned.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 1^st, 2015.