KARACHI, July 8: Residents of Waziristan Colony in Orangi Town have appealed to the chief minister and higher authorities to take notice of the “baseless propaganda” linking them with the Taliban, which was allegedly aimed at dislocating them to pave the way for building Altaf Nagar.

The president of the Azad Qabail Ittehad, Shahid Khan Mohmand, representing residents of the colony located in Sector 11-1/2 of Orangi Town, said that the city and town administrations earlier demolished their houses on the pretext that the land was reserved for cottage industry in 1995, though the colony was built in 1983 on surveyed land measuring 22 acres, purchased from one Amanullah Khan.

The Azad Qabail Ittehad chief, speaking at a press conference at the Karachi Press Club on Tuesday, said that despite the fact that the dwellers had two court orders issued by a district and sessions judge, police were not ready to register an FIR against the officials responsible for demolishing their houses because of the alleged pressure from the Muttahida Qaumi Movement.

Pointing out that Muttahida activists have started raising compound walls to build ‘Altaf Nagar,’ he demanded protection from the alleged highhandedness of the city nazim and announced that the dwellers would soon hold a Jirga of Pakhtuns and issue a white paper, giving details of land-grabbing activities of MQM workers.