Pak conference slams 'illegal' occupation of Karachi land, accuses Imran Khan's party of indulging in "modern form of colonisation"
May 24, 2021
Karachi [Pakistan], May 24 : An All Parties Conference (APC) consisting of Opposition parties of Pakistan on Sunday asked for the Bahria Town Karachi (BTK) to be returned to its original status and accused Imran Khan's party Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) of indulging in "modern form of colonisation".
"BTK had illegally occupied lands and it's construction work should be stopped," said a resolution by the APC, attended by the Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) and nationalist parties from Sindh and Balochistan, reported Dawn.
"We consider it as a form of colonialism in the 21st century which is worse than the colonialism of the 18th century. We believe that BTK is part of [the] invasion of global capitalism," it added.
The participants of the conference labelled the Imran Khan-led ruling government and the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP)-led provincial government in Sindh as BTK' facilitators.
The speakers alleged the PPP government, in particular, had been exposed as "anti-Sindh" by allowing and initiating the Defence Housing Authority City, Zulfiqarabad and Thar coal projects.
The participants were of the view that the Supreme Court in 2018 had declared BTK as illegal, regretting that the implementation bench of the apex court had violated its powers and legalised BTK in return for money, Dawn reported.
Slamming the court's decision to legalise the land, the conference members extended their support a sit-in at the main gate of BTK on June 6 on the call of the Sindh Action Committee while protests would be held in all districts of Sindh on June 27.
This comes after protests and demonstrations were held earlier in the month in several big and small cities and towns in rural Sindh against the demolition of houses in Karachi's old villages where Bahria Town was reclaiming lands for its housing project, according to Dawn.
The Bahria Town administration has been facing resistance from the residents of the lands in Karachi's Gadap and Kathore who were not ready to surrender what they claim to be "their ancestral lands".
Armed guards of the Bahria Town's private security firm opened fire at villagers in Kathore, injuring one.
Gadap Town police had also launched an investigation against BTK security staff for alleged rioting, kidnapping and injuring villagers, and detained more than a dozen staff of the property developer in late-night raids according to official sources.
