KARACHI, Feb 16: A tug of war continues for the control of an old non-governmental organization - the Young Men Christian Association (YMCA) - which owns among many other valuable assets, a prime piece of land.

Located opposite the Governor's House, the sprawling YMCA land has been used as a place where youngsters have been carrying out their sports and cultural activities. However, recently some builders and developers, backed by some influential people in the government, have set their eyes on the piece of land.

Since its inception, a limited number of people have managed to retain control over the body which looks after the organization. And during the last decade, a minority member of the Sindh Assembly, Salim Khokhar, became the administrator of YMCA after an elected body was suspended.

Later, a minority federal minister, Col S.K. Tressler, also took interest and manoeuvred to induct a few of his supporters on its board of directors. The court was moved both the times and eventually the YMCA was restored to its elected body.

Recently complaints regarding misappropriation in YMCA were made with the Social Welfare Department, which sacked the board of directors and appointed an administrator.

He was replaced after three months and another administrator, a woman, and a five-member ad hoc committee were appointed to look after its affairs. Two of the committee members have since resigned.

Lately, the people from the Christian community, which is supposed to be served by the YMCA, has started mounting protests and demonstrations against what they see as wrongdoing on the part of its office-bearers as well as the authorities.

The minority community councillors of the city district government have also staged a sit in at their head office, besides raising the issue in the city council.

The YMCA offers two types of memberships - one called "active" and the other "associate". "Active" membership is restricted to Christian males registered with a limited number of specific churches, while males from the other communities can become "associate" members.

The difference between the two types of membership is that only the "active" members may vote to elect a 25-member board of directors, which controls the YMCA. The "associate" members have all other rights and may avail all the facilities, but they cannot vote and so have no say in the affairs of YMCA.

The criteria for both the types of membership is easy to meet. But, while the number of the "associate" members runs into thousands, the number of "active" members is less than 130.

Meanwhile, some people claim that more than 80 members had been registered recently by the present ad hoc administration. One group claims that this is a calculated move through which the present administration is trying to change the composition of the YMCA by inducting its supporters as its members. The fact that it is the administration which scrutinizes the particulars of the world-be members helps.

Responding to some queries put by Dawn, the Director of the Social Welfare Department, Qurban Memon, said that the YMCA board was sacked due to complaints of corruption. An administrator was appointed to carry out an audit of accounts, open its membership and hold elections.

But, as he did not carry out these tasks in the prescribed period, he was replaced and a female administrator and a five-member ad hoc committee were appointed. However, the present administrator also could not carry out these tasks and has been given an extension as the task is enormous and cannot be completed within the stipulated time, the director said.

Two members out of a five-member ad hoc body appointed with the administrator have also resigned. New members have not yet been appointed, Mr Memon added.

He said the YMCA had been registered with various departments under at least three different laws - Societies Act, Companies Act and Social Welfare law - which is illegal. He, however, had not taken any decision as to what action to take in this regard, he added.

YMCA's administrator, Safina Javed - the first woman to hold the post - said very few people took interest in becoming "active" members even though announcements were being made in churches. Presently, there were about 130 such members. She said an audit was being carried out and some misappropriations had been detected. Soon the elections would be held, after which her tasks would be done.

Ms Javed, who has worked with several NGOs and is a member of the Religious Affairs Committee of Muttahida Qaumi Movement, said she was not a member of the YMCA as it was a purely a men's organization. However, in other countries there had been a few female officials of YMCA.

She said at least two parties had approached the previous YMCA governing body and it was negotiating to start construction on its playground. "We have written to them that we are not interested in their proposals," she added.

In the meantime, some sources said the rival groups were backed by influential people. One is backed by a provincial minister, while the other is backed by a retired senior army official, presently serving as a provincial secretary.

One party wants to construct a few classrooms of a technical school and the other wants to construct an executive club. A common feature in both the proposals, however, is a large number of shops and commercial establishments, the sources added.

They said that even if the Social Welfare Department and the newly-appointed YMCA administrator were performing their respective duties honestly and with sincerity, the opponents would always try to malign them, particularly exploiting the fact that they belonged to one party.

According to some members, one way to deal with the issue could be to appoint a two-member ad hoc committee comprising the most respected members of the Christian community - the heads of the Holy Trinity Cathedral (Protestant) and the Saint Patrick's Cathedral (Roman Catholic).

However, if they are too busy then they may be asked to nominate one person each on the committee to carry out the audit, open memberships, hold elections and hand over the YMCA to the elected body. It is important that the ad hoc body commands respect in the Christian community - to whom the YMCA ultimately belongs.

The YMCA membership base also be broadened to restrict the exploitation of the social organization by a few individuals. The government on its part could ensure that the use of the YMCA grounds - the bone of contention - could not be altered under any circumstance. It should always be used as an amenity plot.

The government should also ensure that the original constitution of the YMCA is never changed by anybody. The authorities should distance themselves from the issue as the opponents will try to exploit the situation and raise hue and cry that a minority community NGO was being taken over by the government.

If the membership drive is carried out by the government or an ad hoc body that comprises members of one of its coalition partners, then the opponents would allege that the composition of the organization had been changed with political aims and objectives in mind.

If the issue is not resolved in a transparent manner and to the satisfaction of the Christians, wrong signals may go out to the international community. The government could be accused of victimizing the minority communities. The YMCA, after all, is a high-profile international organization, they say.