IN the international fora, all we have is nuisance value. How can we be expected to hold our head high in any debate when we cannot even tolerate a debate in our own upper house, the Senate, on the so-called 'honour killings,' in reality legalised murder?
On the home front, another hare-brained half-baked project, the Prime Minister's 'Mera Ghar Scheme,' is on the anvil. The front end and the rear end have neither been tied up nor tidied and in the meantime the people's land is being grabbed, this time round the grabbers being the Federal Government of Pakistan.
Realizing the importance and necessity of parks and open spaces, in 1982 the government allotted a 30-acre plot to the Horticultural Society of Pakistan to develop its scheme for the establishment of a horticultural complex, botanical gardens, and a park for the enjoyment of the people of the overpopulated, congested and garbage-ridden city of Karachi.
Contour survey, planning, designing and preliminary work of like nature was carried out. Site offices were built and set up and a nursery planted. Whatever could be done with the meagre bit of water which trickled in via a half-inch pipe connection was done. The Society was not able to make substantial progress owing to the lethargy and ever-changing policies of Sindh's successive governments, for want of government and institutional financial aid and support, and for lack of the promised adequate supply of water.
Come 1988 and with it Benazir Bhutto and Asif Zardari. They established in Sindh, under the able guidance of Commuter Qaim Ali Shah, their executor of evil intentions, Agha Siraj Durrani, and their other crony land-grabbers. On one excuse or another, the Zardari/Durrani connection made efforts to have the Horticultural Society's 30-acres allotted to various builders and developers for a price. The people protested and successfully resisted.
The year 1990 brought into power in Sindh slayer Jam Sadiq Ali of Sanghar. In April of 1991 a gang of toughs, engaged by builders Wasif Wazir Associates, invaded the park site, overpowered the Society's chowkidars, broke into the site offices and destroyed whatever furniture and fittings there were. They also destroyed whatever saplings and plants had been nurtured. The matter was reported to Jam Sadiq. True to form, he declared himself to be 'shocked' and promised to 'investigate.' Jam, of course, did nothing and the land-grabber continued his job. He built a wall around what he claimed to be his property.
Threatening noises that endangered the Society's possession of the property were heard. So, to save its land, the Society went to court through its then president, Mahmud Ali, and me, the two petitioners. The respondents were the province of Sindh and Wasif Wazir Associates. Barrister Khalid Jawed drafted a petition (his first ever), we persuaded the Grandmaster Sharifuddin Pirzada to rise, and a stay order was obtained restraining both Government and builders.
Come 1995, and again Benazir/Asif, with this time in Sindh, Syed Abdullah Shah. The Member, Land Utilization of the Board of Revenue wrote to the advocate-general of Sindh, ".....in pursuance of the Prime Minister's directives as well as concurrence of the Chief Minister of Sindh...", he referred to other allocations made in favour of seven builders and urged him to take up the matter "at your personal level." He was asked to make strenuous efforts to have the stay order vacated and the constitutional petition dismissed. Luckily for us, the A-G was unsuccessful.
Come 1997 and the advent of the second round of Nawaz Sharif, and now in 1999, the Sharif sidekick Saifur Rahman has identified plots of land on which the 'Mera Ghars' can be built, one plot being the Horticultural Society's land. I informed Saif that this land was not for him to grab and that he should make sure that the prime minister is not ushered there to lay a mass-produced foundation stone or plant a sapling. Saif managed this.
For the information of the prime minister, his man Saifur Rahman, his governor of Sindh, and his adviser on Sindh affairs, the third Shah, Ghous Ali, and his advisers, secretaries, administrators and officers, the legal status of the Society's 30 acres is as follows :
"1) The Horticultural Society of Pakistan was allotted 30 acres of land in Deh Okewari, Taluka Karachi, possession of which was handed over to the Society on 19/9/82. On 23/4/91, Wasif Wazir Associates unlawfully and by use of force trespassed on five acres of this land. The Society lodged a report with the police on 25/4/91. Meanwhile the Government attempted to cancel the allotment of the remaining 25 acres. Threatened with the cancellation of the plot, the Society filed Constitutional Petition No.D-520 of 1991 in the High Court of Sindh.
"2) The petition together with its stay application came up for hearing on 8/5/91. The Court (Saiduzzaman Siddiqui CJ and Imam Ali Kazi J) issued notice to the AG and called for para-wise comments from the Government of Sindh (R1) and also restrained Wasif Wazir Associates (R2) from raising any construction on the plot. A commissioner was appointed to inspect the site and submit his report to the court."3) The commissioner visited the site on 9/5/91 and reported that there was a boundary wall with an iron gate surrounding 5 acres of the 30 acres, and the chowkidar of Respondent No.2 claimed it to be the property of that Respondent. There was no construction other than walls with sheet-roofing, on which a few labourers were working. The remaining 25 acres were undeveloped.
"4) On 6/6/91, the Court (Saiduzzaman Siddiqui CJ and Abdul Rahim Kazi J) admitted the petition for regular hearing and ordered that the interim order passed earlier was to continue until the hearing of the stay application.
"5) On 16/6/91, the AAG for the Government of Sindh produced a copy of an order dated 4/5/91 passed by the Government of Sindh which purported to allot 25 acres of land to some seven entities/persons (later these were discovered to be Ahmad Ali Construction Company, Mobin International, Nasir Abdullah Hussain, China Builders, Mustapha and Company, Combined Builders, Mrs Sabra Begum). The order was passed by the Secretary, Government of Sindh, Board of Revenue, LU Department, issued with the approval of the Chief Minister, the land to be used for residential-cum-commercial purposes. On this the court ordered that as the petition had already been admitted, the petitioners' possession of the land should not be interfered with until the hearing of the stay application and that the Sindh Government order dated 4/5/91 would not be further implemented. Subsequently, the petition was amended to also implead the seven entities/persons.
"6) The last time this petition came up for hearing was on 10/3/99, but it was adjourned for want of time. The application and petition are still pending and will come up again for hearing.
"7) The present legal position : As far as the 5 acres of the 30 acres is concerned R2 claims it to be in his possession. The Society disputes the possession. The court has restrained R2 from raising any construction thereon. As to the remaining 25 acres, they are in the possession of the Society and the court has directed that this possession will not be interfered with. This order is still operative. The order of the Sindh Government dated 4/5/91 remains suspended".
Now to a quotation which I have used many a time before, an excerpt from a letter written to The Times (London) in February 1987 : "Those who fear that fields will lose to bricks and those who might hope to gain from such an exchange would do well to remember the age-old anecdote about an open space in London. 'Were I to enclose Green Park within my garden, what would be the cost?' asked Queen Anne. 'A monarchy, Madam. A monarchy,' replied Robert Walpole."
Each successive time, this has fallen on ignorant, deaf, and deafer ears.Whether we like it or not, right now the only possible saviour of the people's land, of their parks, playing fields, gardens and open spaces, is the judiciary.