Land mafias raise their deadly head

Orangi Pilot Project director’s killing reminds

of internal threat

Karachi lost one of its premier social workers to another assassination on Thursday. Orangi Project chief Parveen Rehman was shot dead – apparently by land mafias who had been threatening her since long. Rehman, who had taken up the chair at the Orangi Pilot Project (OPP) after the demise of the late Akhtar Hameed Khan, was known for her work for the uplift of some of the most ignored settlements in the increasingly urbanised Pakistan.

Rehman was a committed social worker who had also worked on the illegal occupation of land in and around Orangi, Qasba and Gadap. She also supervised the mapping of illegal water hydrants around the city, including the mapping of 2,173 villages and marking around 8,000 illegal hydrants. Such research is considered dangerous in a climate where the growth of cities is intrinsically tied with the land mafia organised expansion. If nothing, her work ruffled a few feathers, as a colleague of hers was quoted as saying: “She did research on land encroachment. She knew about politically-backed influential people who were selling the same plots to a number of individuals and making million out of such dirty deals.” Perhaps, she ruffled one feather too many, but it is important now that those responsible for her targeted killing are identified and apprehended.

Are the killers religiously bigoted terrorist or land cum water mafias? Whatever the case may be, Pakistan is becoming a more dangerous place for women activists, as the attack on Malala Yousafzai and now Parveen Rehman’s killing have shown.

But the power of land mafias is not limited to threats outside the law. A long standing contestation of human rights activists has been that land mafias have employed the Blasphemy Laws to grab land. The same appears to be the case as the details of the mob attack on Joseph Colony in Lahore are being uncovered in the Supreme Court. A police official expressed that “the riot was the result of local politics in which one of the groups contesting the nearby iron market elections had encouraged workers of different godowns to gather and attack the Christians”.

Land mafias have been a topic of debate when it comes to Karachi – and all across Pakistan – as playing a key role in perpetuating the unending violence. However, the killing of Karachi’s premier social worker and the Joseph Colony mob attack, have reminded us that debates must lead to action. A judicial probe headed by the Sindh High Court into Parveen Rehman’s killing is an immediate necessity. But will that be enough? We cannot be sure.