DHA officials destroy more than 800 hookahs

These were collected from cafes and parlours on Zamzama, Khadda Market and other areas in the last two months

KARACHI: From a distance, the blue, yellow and black coloured hookahs neatly arranged in rows looked like shining trophies to be given away. Only when one came closer and saw the road roller, did it all make sense that the equipment was soon to be crushed to pieces.

You may have heard of law enforcement agencies crushing liquor bottles and burning up charas but, in a rare activity on Friday evening, the Defence Housing Authority (DHA) crushed more than 800 hookahs and set on fire their flavoured tobacco.



At the Defence Authority Country and Golf Club, a road roller rammed into the hookahs, the crushing sound of glass echoing in the open, and a pile of tobacco and powder was burnt, the sweet smell hanging in the air. Many hookahs were manually crushed, an officer taking one hookah and using it to destroy the others.

The hookahs have been collected by the DHA authorities during the last two months from cafes and parlours in Zamzama, Khadda Market and other commercial areas. Each hookah worth Rs5,000 to Rs10,000, two of them shaped like Kalashnikovs set in the middle, attracted attention at the event.

DHA administrator Brig Zubair Ahmed said that the DHA took lead from instructions of the Supreme Court for taking action against sheesha cafés. "Influential people were involved and there was resistance so we had to be careful," he said, talking about the raids conducted by the authorities. Ahmed pointed out that though it was a serious problem, it was not new. "We want to clear DHA of sheesha and the operation will continue until it is cleared," he said, adding that they do not want the young generation to suffer. Talking about the arrests of sheesha owners, he said that arrests were not in the jurisdiction of the DHA.



DHA Security and Vigilance deputy director Major Nayiar Naqvi said that there were 100 such sheesha parlours operating in DHA. "They have been opened near schools and are targeting students," he said, adding that they were providing addictives to the students. On the authorities' notice, some cafes voluntarily gave up the practice of serving sheesha while some showed resistance and are being monitored, said Naqvi.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 28^th, 2015.