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| In the name of security |
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Urban/urbane
Friday, June 19, 2009
Ahmad Rafay Alam
Security is a strange phenomenon as many a deed is done in its name. Security has been the reason why, to quote Lord Denning, we have had to part with many of our cherished freedoms. Losing one's privacy would be bad enough. But in this Islamic Republic, it seems security is being used for another reasons: grabbing land.
It started in Lahore after the tragic suicide attack at the Naval War College on Mall Road. The attack was the city's second run in with the Suicide Bomber. In response, the Naval War College replaced the iron grill that served as its boundary wall with a 15-foot-high wall, complete with turrets. It closed up the entrance of Aikman Road from the Mall to the Chief Justice's residence in GOR-I. The taking of public space and public land was explained as a casualty to the "security situation," a flippant remark that suggests that the people who utter such things believe the problem is just theirs. But if anyone cares to drive by the Naval War College in the morning, they will see the cordoned-off road being used as parking for its staff and visitors. The security land scam is complete.
The qabza of a public road by the Naval War College has sparked some copycats. Just up the road, on the other side of the Canal, the National Institute of Public Administration has also responded to the suicide bomb attacks in the city. It replaced its iron grill – removing from sight the rows of beautiful flowers planted with such care by its former administrator and passionate horticulturalist Major-General (retired) Sikandar Shami – with a brick wall. It has also placed a barrier on the mouth of the road that leads to Scotch Corner, denying the public entry to the Upper Mall Scheme and the Mian Mir Colony it leads to. Students and staff of the Institute now park their cars on the green belt on Mall Road. Its "security measures" has witnessed making a parking lot of public land. The land scam is complete.
Further up the road, the headquarters of the IB and the official residence of the director-general of the Pakistan Rangers have also replaced the tank traps outside their gates with cement barriers, and have thus closed off the service road to the public. The Qurban Lines underneath the Mian Mir Bridge has cordoned off the Rs50-million road built only a few years ago to reduce traffic congestion along the Mall. The security land scam is complete.
I asked a friend who lives in Washington DC whether the road outside 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue – the address of the White House – is open to the public. I was told that part of it is closed to automobile traffic, but it is open to the public. My friend walks past the White House on her way to work every morning. There is no wall surrounding the White House. Only an iron grill through which America's most popular public building can be seen. In London, visitors can stand by the entrance of the private road that leads to No 10 Downing Street. They can even catch a bus from the stop not a dozen yards away. The War on Terror these countries are engaged in is clearly not enough to justify the taking from their people their public space or public thoroughfares.
Where can one go to lament the great security land scam? Surely not the provincial government. Readers with good memory will recall how, back in the days Nawaz Sharif was chief minister of Punjab, he had erected a wall outside the small, triangular, park in front of his Model Town residence. It was used, if urban legend is to be believed, as a private cricket ground. The wall was torn down by order of later chief minister Manzur Wattoo. The ebbs and flows of our politics being what they are, the Sharifs are back and the officers actually charged with the responsibility of removing the wall have, if urban legend can be relied upon, still not been forgiven for their transgression.
A few weeks ago, on a cycle ride around Model Town, I noticed that the road outside the Sharif residences in Model Town had been cordoned off by a barrier. The small, triangular, park is still there, but it now serves the purpose of housing the many policemen responsible for the security of the compound. It no longer functions as a space for the public. A few days ago, while driving in Gulberg, I noticed that road outside Chief Minister Shabaz Sharif's third wife's house was also completely cordoned off. A cement pillbox, complete with gun-pointing sentry, now greeted me and the sentry waved me on to a small detour. The small park outside the residence of the Province's First (Third?) Lady is now occupied by the little wooden cabins used by police. No sir, one can't go to the Sharifs and expect a sympathetic ear when one's public spaces are being eaten up in the name of security. The security land scam is complete.
But by far the most audacious event in the history of this new type of land scam is the shutting down of the GOR-I. Over the weekend, the entire machinery of the local government was used to raise walls into all but two roads leading into the leafy residential district that houses, amongst other things, one of the city's great public parks, a girls' school and a kindergarten. There's even a sizeable basti behind the chief minister's official residence. Literally. Right next to its back wall. The metaphor speaks for itself. Thus the name "Government Officers' Residence 1" is a misnomer. In all, the use and occupation of the area by private individuals is far greater than its occupation by the handful of bureaucrats and High Court judges that give it its name. Now, the newly constructed walls prohibit entry and newly constructed sentry posts ensure only the anointed can enter. (Access to the road leading from the Mall Road to the chief minister's office will be a privilege reserved only for ministers and other VVIPs.)
Other governments have tried to cordon off GOR-I. Their efforts were quickly rebuffed. But this time, this government has this "security situation" argument. It's this argument that was used to remove the recently refurbished raised pedestrian footpaths in the area. It's also been employed, non sequitur, to uproot fully-grown and healthy trees. It's very clear whoever is responsible for this act of violence to the city does not want pedestrians in GOR-I. Why should they? Bureaucrats and judges move about in chauffer-driven cars. It's very clear whoever is responsible for this undemocratic act against public space thinks the girls who attend the school in the middle of GOR-1, and who used the elevated footpaths to walk from their homes in the basti to school, are better off taking their chances with VVIP convoys.
There's no doubt that Pakistanis are under attack by a ruthless enemy that has no respect for human life. There's no doubt that our armed forces are engaged in a deadly battle that same claim is for the "soul of Pakistan." There's no doubt that the operations in the northern regions are going to continue for some time. There's no doubt that the enemy's tactics include suicide bombers. But the state's reaction is appalling. It has moved to secure only its own. Security barriers and cordoned-off streets point to a new "security elite" – those who are so important that they must be protected. The state's reaction offers no safety to its people. The government and the state are reminded that, by removing the public from its surroundings, it is also removing itself from the public. The great security land scam is complete.
The writer is an advocate of the high court and a member of the adjunct faculty at LUMS. He has an interest in urban planning. Email: ralam@nexlinx. net.pk
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