Abuse of State Property in Karachi

Shehri-CBE
December 2009
 Shehri-CBE

Shehri-Citizens for a Better Environment

is a civil society group
involved in various issues related to the
protection and conservation of
natural and built environment
in Pakistan
 Some success stories
• Demolition of Glass Towers illegal encroachment
on the notified road-widening of Clifton Road: this
action saved the road from being constricted.
• Saving of 480-acre Gutter Baghicha Park on
Manghopir Road: this is the largest open
recreational space in a low income congested area
of approximately one million inhabitants
• Demolition of apartment structure Costa Livina in
Bagh-e-Ibn-e-Qasim, Clifton park.

• Increasing awareness about built-environment

issues, and rendering assistance to the judiciary
 Is Shehri Anti-Development?
Karachi will expand the 21st century due to population
pressures. However a city also requires :
• Open spaces for recreation & fresh air / playgrounds for
children.
• Schools, hospitals & other social amenities.
• Libraries & theatres.
• Transport systems & roads.
• Adequate utilities & infrastructure (electricity, water, sewerage)
At this moment the city is being abused by unlawful allotment of
unplanned land, arbitrary conversion of land-use and
construction of illegal buildings.
 Who Benefits?
• When a criminal group take over a park in connivance with
corrupt government officials to build a shopping plaza?
• When an illegal office complex is made without parking
space?
• When an illegal commercial buildings are made in
residential zones?
• When an unsafe multistory building is constructed using
substandard raw materials?
A city's development should be for the benefit of all the
populace and not a handmaiden for a few.
"Karachi's Madrasas And Violent Extremism"

International Crisis Group (IGC) did a study in 2007

• Madrasa and mosque managers also generate income
through other means, particularly the illegal occupation
of state and private land

• Commercial advantages are clearly a significant

motivating factor behind the construction of new
mosques. There is hardly a mosque or madrasa without a
number of shops attached to it
ICG Executive Summary And Recommendations

• Clearing mosques and madrasas encroaching on state

land and dismantling those occupying public parks in
Karachi and other cities

• Enforcing zoning regulations that restrict establishment

of madrasas with hostels in residential neighbourhoods
 Lawless Karachi
• Karachi is strange city – there is an active land mafia which
grabs amenity land to make illegal buildings almost at will.

• Now the Nazims (elected representatives) , government

bureaucrats and criminal builders have entered a unholy
alliance to take over public / park land for their own profit

• Shehri has photos of parks in North Nazimabad taken in 2004

and 2009 to give proof of these criminal actions
 How Shehri Got Involved
• Shehri got to know about this matter after a
resident expressed despair on the criminal
occupation of parks in North Nazimabad.
• Shehri wrote to the concerned elected
officials and also government bureaucrats
along photos as proof but to no avail. The
“well wishers” of Karachi are either
criminally involved in this land grab or
criminally incompetent.
 The Press
• The newspapers have also written articles
about the criminal land grab – however there
is still a deafening silence from the elected
politicians who claim to love the city and
repeat empty platitudes of “I Own Karachi”.
The bureaucracy who are supposed to uphold
the law are looking on indifferently or are
actively involved with political and criminal
groups. How can one shame the shameless?
 The Story Of Gutter Baghicha

The story of Gutter Baghicha is a story of

corruption, greed, connivance, and land
grabbing by some citizens and officials in this
city of the oldest Park in Karachi, and a story of
apathy and lethargy by the rest of us who call
Karachi our home.
A story where the poor have no voice and of
deafening silence and indifference in the
corridors of power.
 What Was Gutter Baghicha
(1017 Acres Park)
• Gutter Baghicha forms the lungs of old Karachi, the largest
continuous open green space in this city of 18 million people.
Located in SITE Town along the Manghopir Road. A Karachi
Municipality map of 1892 shows that Plot No. K 28/108 is 118 years
old. At the time of partition, the Baghicha was referred to as 'the
largest urban forest in Karachi‘.
• In 1969 map of Karachi, Gutter Baghicha is shown as a 'Municipal
Garden' spread over an area of 1017 acres. Technically, it is still all
government land, meant for public recreation.
• Its appellation of 'gutter' originated from storm drainage channels
of Lyari River known as the Shone Drainage System.
 Corruption and Apathy
• This is a letter from Brig (R)
Mukhtar Ahmed (Chairman
Enquiries and Anti-Corruption)
complaining that no action has
been taken regarding illegal
allotment of state land (Gutter
Baghicha).
• There is a huge amount of
documentation on record
showing concerned government
officials helping criminals.
• This shows the power of the land
mafia in Karachi and the
corruption of some politicians
and government officials.
 The murder of Nisar Baloch
• On 7 November 2009 Nisar Baloch was leaving his house in
the morning. He was assassinated - gunned down in cold
blood.
• Who was Nisar Baloch? Why was he murdered?
• Nisar Baloch was a civil advocacy activist associated with
several NGOs and was a schoolteacher by profession. He
started his social career in 1976 by establishing a street
school, "Aap Ka Madressah," (your own school) where he
provided free education to children and adults of the area.
• In 1986, he established the Baloch Promotive Computer and
English Language Center in his area (Old Golimar Karachi). So
far, thousands of residents of the area received IT degrees
from the centre.
• Apart from education activities, Baloch played a vital role in
serving the old settlers of Karachi. Currently, Nisar Baloch was
campaigning against the land mafia for grabbing the Tran-Lyari
Park (Gutter Baghicha) land in SITE Town.
• The latest land grab (50 acres) involved Mr. Izhar Uddin, Town
Nazim of SITE town
 Asian Human Rights Commission
http://www.ahrchk.net/statements/mainfile.php/2009statements/2286/

• “On November 6, the day before his murder, Nisar Baloch

addressed members of the press at a press conference
and clearly stated that the City’s Nazim (mayor) Mr.
Mustafa Kamal, as well as the Town Nazim of the SITE
town, had the intention to murder him. He stated further
that he would be murdered the next day by the
aforementioned people and by activists of the MQM
Altaf Hussain group. He blamed the party in ruling
alliance for their encroachment onto the land of Gutter
Baghicha.”
 Asian Human Rights Commission
http://www.ahrchk.net/statements/mainfile.php/2009statements/2286

• “Clearly, the values which uphold law and

order in this country have deteriorated to a
state of abjection. When a man says in a press
conference that he will be killed the following
day by the mayors of Karachi and the SITE
town, and the police fail to provide protection
to him because of the political pressure they
are under, it is clear that the situation is
deplorable”
The only thing necessary for
the triumph of evil is for
good men to do nothing.
Edmund Burke