KARACHI – Shehri-CBE, a Karachi-based non-profit body – organised a demonstration at Mazar-e-Quaid on Saturday to protest what it termed as the “hypocritical” ‘Protection and Prohibition of Amenity Plots Bill 2009’ that was placed before the Sindh Assembly last week. According to a press release issued by the NGO, the participants of the demonstration included people from all walks of life: students, teachers, lawyers, engineers, architects, town-planners, businessmen, industrialists, politicians, social activists etc.
They questioned as to how the MPAs of Sindh could even consider changing the land-use status of amenity plots and the “regularise” the misuse of public spaces.
The NGO said that the objective of this protest was not simply to get the parliamentarians to withdraw this bill, but to drive home a message to them that they cannot consider any such legislation which is against the interests of the citizens.
Such a legislation, which defies universally established environmental and public interest norms, is morally corrupt. All political parties owe a duty to their voters that any such legislation which violates the basic human rights of the citizens should not be allowed. The moral bench-mark of political parties should be high against such proposals. The Sindh Assembly and other elected representatives must realise that citizens are overwhelmed by the rising cost of the living and other problems in their daily life.
The last thing they need is for their elected representatives robbing them of their free public spaces. The Supreme Court has already given a clear directive to the city government to clear the parks of Karachi from all non-conforming encroachments.
However, the CDGK, which seems to be under the influence of the land mafia and political criminals, is only demolishing libraries, UC offices and allied structures constructed by the government with citizens’ tax money to try and malign the Supreme Court and make it order seem against the public interest.
The CDGK is not demolishing private houses, commercial buildings and political parties’ offices, which have been erected over the past four years by political activists on parks. The floating of this “sell-out” bill and the “slow” compliance with the directives
