Violent eviction

There can be no greater indictment of the state’s priorities than the disparate way it treats those with money and influence and those who are just struggling to survive. Even as land developers grease palms to get sweetheart deals for prime state land, those living in informal settlements or who do not possess the necessary documentation are treated as criminals. We saw another example of this on Wednesday as the Sindh police baton-charged and tear gassed protesters who were trying to resist their forced eviction from a federal residential colony in Pakistan Quarters in Karachi. The current occupants are retired government employees and widows of deceased civil servants who say they pay rent to live in the colony. The Sindh government, however, believes they are occupying their residences without occupation and so had approached the Supreme Court to begin the eviction process. Originally, the Supreme Court had agreed with the eviction but the apex court has now issued a three-month delay.

While it is up to the courts to decide the merits of the case, it is striking how quick the state is to resort to violence when displacing people. We have seen this happen time and again at katchi abadis around the country. Meanwhile, land grabbers and the building mafia operate with impunity. Even if action is threatened against them, they get immediate stay orders issued and then tie up the matter in litigation for years. Those who cannot afford to buy influence with the state are treated as interlopers in the only homes they have ever known. The federal government recently announced an ambitious scheme to construct five million new homes. It may first want to look at those people who already have homes but are not allowed to live there by the state. Instead of regularising informal settlements, the state demolishes them without providing any alternative. In cases like that of Pakistan Quarters, where the government wants to use the land, it should be the duty of the government to find suitable housing for those who already live there. Instead it deploys batons and tear gas against them. The government exists to serve its people; not act as an enforcer for the rich and powerful.