What’s Next After Bahria Town Attack? | The Future of Bahria Market
The Bahria Town is seen as the pinnacle of what a developed community should look like. The System has its own caliber no doubt. Bahria Town has been consistent with its designs and infrastructure. However, there’s a chink in its armor “Illegal land Grabbing”!
Read More: An Unprecedented Attack on Bahria Town
July 6th Attack
Bahria is Breached!
On 6th June an unprecedented protest took place by Sindh United Parties, which was supposed to be a sit-in by the protestants, unfortunately, that protest turned into a furious and violent attack on public properties. These properties were present inside Bahria Town. The protestants voiced their strong concerns regarding forceful eviction from their ancestral homeland.
There were police ready to take measures for an uneventful situation and Bahria’s own management decided to put forward a barricade at the front entrance to avoid any entrance of protestants in case of things going south.
The Protestants breached the walls and torched the Suzuki showroom with many other shops, fast food outlets, and real estate outlets by many developers and builders. However, the Qadir Magsi of Sindh Action Committee, a political group that was part of the protest claimed on Samaa News"They were Bahria Town's own people who deliberately drove the protest towards violence. We were staging a peaceful sit-in and the Sindh Action Committee had nothing to do with the violence in Bahria Town."
To understand the situation better, a context is needed. Here’s a timeline of how things came to be at this point. This isn’t all of what has happened throughout Bahria’s inception but to provide a brief overview.,
FlashBack: Supreme Court on Bahria Town
8th May 2018
The Supreme court decided to check the irregularities regarding the land acquisition matter between Bahria Town and Malir Development authority. In 2018, on May 8th the Bahria came under the controversy of buying lands through allegedly political measures which granted them lands that Bahria Town wished to acquire. Land swapping was also one of the matters that was looked upon in the court. The Case holds the same limelight since Bahria Town exchanged or swapped the land with the Malir Development Authority.
The apex court has stated that selling or allotting land in Bahria is barred. The Selling or allotting of land to the Company from Sindh court and land swapping with the Malir Development authority is termed illegal.
These decisions hold a key value in the future as the court claimed.
“We are constrained to declare that the grant of the land to the MDA, its exchange with the land of Bahria Town and anything done pursuant thereto being against the provisions of COGLA 1912 [Colonization of Government Lands Act, 1912] and statement of conditions are void ab initio and as such have no existence,
A Statement: Murad Ali Shah
2021, June 8th
The current situation was responded to by Murad Ali Shah as he claimed the land given to Bahria town is rightfully theirs! And anyone found or caught doing damage to lives or property would be dealt with strictly and their conspirators would be taken action against as well.
The land was given to Bahria Town by the court. This topic is discussed below and separately, so keep reading.
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Linking: The 2019s, Legal Wager
Bahria To Pay Rs.460 bn
On 2019, 21st the Bahria Town settlement was decided to be Rs460 Bn (Approx Us $3.1 Bn) by the Supreme Court as the final settlement for their land allotment case.
The case was a legal dispute that took 10 months to conclude The court ordered Bahria town to pay the amount over 7 years with no exceptions. The amount of 25 billion Rupees to be submitted as a downpayment in August 2019. The remaining amount is to be submitted through monthly installments of 2.25 billion Rupees for the next 3 years. In any case, if the company is found not submitting the amount for over 2 months the company would be considered a defaulter.
The Political Colour on Bahria’s Canvas
Bahria Claims and points at politics
The Bahria Town has been facing legal and political challenges throughout its inception. This time is no different. The political parties have aligned themselves under the Sindh card and are determined to work together against societies that exist outside the skirts of Karachi, especially the societies that reside at the superhighway. These societies include Bahria Town Karachi and DHA that are primarily protested against.
The Bahria Town has claimed that these allegations are false and only contain political motives. They released their public statement soon after the July 6th Incident.
The Other party claims that these lands were forcefully and tactfully grabbed by the mafia of Bahria Town. The residents were threatened, Given financial compensation to some, allegedly “murdered” and chased away from them.
The political landscape has been part of Karachi’s failure where social, health, and societal infrastructure is created to make political needs flutter however the needs of other residents especially the lower-middle-class group are ignored.
The political influence doesn’t end there, Bahria was also part of all this, as of how politics painted the landscape of Bahria’s Canvas. The protestant does claim that the land belongs to them however the Sindh Government has allotted the same land to Bahria Town. If anything the question is to be raised towards the ruling party. The Protestants follow a different set of political agenda with a different political party/Group(s) united to voice against Bahria Town.
The Controversies might lead to current events, these controversies can be seen as.
The Market: Power at Stake
Bahria and the outside Forces
The Bahria Residents on 8th June were seen to be Peacdully demonstrating against the “terrorism” committed by the Protestants on 6th June. The builders, the construction agencies were present along with the residents at Bahria Town. The loss of millions was the most painful part of all of these.
The community and the government are seen to be standing with Bahria Town where many social media platforms have a divided fanbase for both the cause.
The current situation might seem like chaos, however, there won’t be any Market Crash! Through attacks like these. The protestants did make a statement by destroying millions of property which does question the security of Bahria Town however the situation was controlled and firefighters were already present in the scenario. The roads and destroyed parts of the town including shops, Outlets, and Showrooms were covered and cleared, and cleaned.
There is a misconception that Bahria has its own security, technically that’s off the mark. The Sindh Government provides police to Bahria Town. The Management is of Bahria Alone.
The market does not seem to be affected other than it is in an unstable state. The builders are positive and the community seems to be more supportive towards Bahria Town.
The Other side of the Coin
A City bewildered
The people responsible for the lack of proper planning of Karachi do not accept the Socio-physical reality that Karachi faces. Their acceptance of the flaws present in city planning is highlighted, condoned, the narrative strengthened by the judiciary. The judiciary and Residents believe Karachi is at the wrong place and in the incapable hands that are planning for it.
The counterfactors are not strong either. Bahria is berated and pointed fingers yet they fail to come close to what Bahria can provide. The State of the art designs, the utilities such as electricity and Gas, world-class infrastructure, proper security, and more. All of these are things that are not something you would find close to in other parts of Karachi.
Final Words:
The Politics did come close to breaking Karachi and they couldn’t as a living city provided them more than could loot from destroying it. They are part of the authority, the institutes that regulate the system, the provincial assemblies, and lastly the government. This does not mean that Bahria is clean and clear. Bad and Corrupt people are all around blaming only Bahria is not the answer.
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