For better or worse?: Larkana’s Sweet Home orphanage shuts down despite stay order

Six facilities across Sindh were established by Benazir Bhutto shortly after the Oct 18 attack on her convoy

SUKKUR:

The Sweet Home orphanage in Larkana has been shut down even though the Sindh High Court circuit bench had granted a stay.

The move has angered residents and its association, Shehri Ittehad Larkana has filed a constitutional petition in court against this decision of the Baitul Maal management. They claimed the management is depriving orphans of the comfort of Sweet Home.

The facility was the brainchild of Benazir Bhutto, who, in the wake of the October 18, 2007, bomb attack on her convoy, came up with the idea to provide a shelter for orphans where they would not only get free accommodation and meals but good quality healthcare and education too.



Five such facilities were established in Sindh — one each in Karachi, Mirpurkhas, Shaheed Benazirabad, Larkana and Sukkur. The facility in Larkana housed over 150 children, mostly hailing from Larkana and Kamber-Shahdadkot districts. Due to its proximity to both the districts, it was easy for the guardians to visit the children each week.

Court proceedings

When news spread that the facility in Larkana was being shut down and children were being moved to the Karachi one, several residents rose in protest. After the move was finally made earlier this month, Shehri Ittehad Larkana's general secretary Liaqat Channa went to the high court's circuit bench. On May 12, his lawyer Zulfiqar Haider Abro submitted a petition saying that the Baitul Maal management has moved the children along with the furniture to Karachi in a bid to shut down the facility.

The court admitted the plea and granted a stay on the relocation. It issued notices to the Baitul Maal, Pakistan, managing director, its Sindh director, its district officer for Larkana, the orphanage's incharge in Larkana and others to file their comments by May 21, said lawyer Abro.

When no one filed their responses on that day, the bench reissued its notices and the next hearing was scheduled for July 16, he added. "If the management closes the facility despite the stay, then we will file a contempt application urgently," said Abro.

It is quite disturbing that the management not only shifted the children to Karachi but has also shifted the furniture and fixture, said Channa. "Besides, it has also given an eviction notice to the landlord for May 31."

For his part, Baitul Maal Sindh director Dr Adnan Majeed explained that the notice was sent as it did not make sense for them to continue paying Rs100,000 in rent when all the children were moved to Karachi.

He assured that the facility in Larkana has not been shut down permanently. "We will rent another building after fresh enrolment is conducted by the District Office in Larkana," he said, adding that the process may take up to three months. "Our aim is to provide the best education and health facilities to the orphans."

The Baitul Maal policy allows it to shift grownup orphans from different cities to Karachi, where there are better education and health facilities, pointed out Majeed. "So far, we have shifted 50 children from Shaheed Benazirabad, 39 from Mirpurkhas, 25 from Sukkur and all the students from Larkana and Karachi Sweets Homes to a bigger building in Karachi," he explained, adding that this new facility has been gifted by the Saudi government.

Benazir's present

Channa told The Express Tribune how the orphanage was a gift from Benazir Bhutto as she knew very well the plight of those who lose their parents in natural calamities, acts of terror and tribal feuds.

"We do not have any objection if the authorities are shifting grownup ones to Karachi for better education and health facilities but the facility should remain intact for fresh enrolment," he said.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 26^th, 2015.