KARACHI: The displaced residents of Gujjar, Orangi and Mehmoodabad Nullahs staged a protest outside the Karachi Registry of the Supreme Court on Friday to demand the rental payments and housing compensation promised to them after their homes were demolished more than four years ago.

The demonstrators have been protesting for the fourth consecutive day from the platform of the civil society group called Karachi Bachao Tehreek (KBT).

The KBT said that around 9,000 homes were demolished in the said year near the Gujjar, Orangi and Mehmoodabad Nullahs, leaving more than 50,000 people homeless. But despite court rulings in favour of compensation and resettlement, “official delays and corruption have obstructed relief,” it maintained.

It said that the affected families have not received rent since Dec 2023. The Sindh government has “deliberately” delayed payments and housing allotments, leaving thousands without shelter. The KBT described the situation as a “long-drawn-out miscarriage of justice,” and demanded that the Supreme Court take immediate notice of the government’s negligence and corruption.

Affectees demand rental payments, housing compensation promised to them

It said that thousands of homes were razed to build 25-foot-wide roads not included in Karachi’s Master Plan. “All this benefited a few construction companies while the poor were left homeless,” the statement added.

Over 2,000 verified complaints by affected residents remain unresolved, the statement said, adding that “many families claim that government officials and intermediaries demanded bribes to release rent or construction funds, and that no investigation into these allegations has been completed.”

The KBT criticised the Sindh government and PPP leadership for “celebrating election victories abroad” while Karachi’s working-class citizens continue to suffer.

“Instead of celebrating, they should answer why the affectees are still waiting for the roofs promised to them,” the group said.

Families at the protest site described their hardships: old men on crutches, women who lost their husbands, and children missing school to demand shelter.

Furthermore, criticising former Chief Justice of Pakistan Gulzar Ahmed’s verdict that allowed the demolitions along Gujjar, Orangi and Mehmoodabad Nullahs to proceed, the KBT termed it an “anti-working class” decision.

The group said that a tribunal and the high court had earlier declared the residents’ leases valid and ordered a halt to demolitions, but Justice Gulzar, during court vacations, overturned those decisions without reviewing the presented documents.

It questioned why, if all leases in Karachi were invalid as the then CJP claimed, no action was taken against officials of the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation, Karachi Development Authority, Sindh Katchi Abadi Authority and the city district government whose own leases existed in the same areas.

The KBT urged the Supreme Court to enforce its previous orders that guaranteed each displaced family an 80-sq-yard plot and construction funds.

It called for the immediate release of rent arrears and housing compensation, transparent registration of all pending complaints, and the appointment of an independent monitoring committee that includes civil society and representatives of the affected communities.

It warned that if their demands are not met, the protest will escalate to sit-ins and street demonstrations.

Published in Dawn, November 8th, 2025