Institutional integrity and China-cutting in Karachi
Upon reading that clause, the head of the committee remarked that “there is no difference between the ideology of Islam and the ideology of Pakistan.”
“There may be no difference between the two for us Muslims, but you should ask non-Muslims what the difference is,” Swati responded.
“This is a dangerous issue. Let us postpone it for now,” the chairman of the committee said in agreement.
The extent of Pakistani institutional power on display. They couldn’t make a fly move unless someone forced them to do it.
Delaying problems just makes matters worse. Perhaps the committee chairman had learned not to trifle with controversial affairs following the recent dharnas and lockdown of the capital from religious parties.
This alongside Dawns feature piece of DHA’s and Bahrias land encroachments lays bare the frail power the public sector holds against any form of influence. Even if they seek to take action they’re faced with multiple restrictions.
Recently, when the anti-encroachment operations began in Karachi, that too only when ordered by the apex court no less, the Karachi Development Authority (KDA) and other municipal bodies faced fierce resistance from ‘powerful’ individuals who had encroached on these amenity plots and built wedding halls and so forth. The KDA had its hands tied when dealing with these people of influence and simply diverted their attention to other various wedding halls and even some schools to which they even received threats.
Earlier, during the operation, KDA officials said they had received threats from those involved in encroaching the amenity land. However, the officials had said, they would not come under any pressure during their drive against structures illegally constructed on amenity plots.
While this is a commendable, the performance is abysmal when looking at the time allotted by the Supreme Court; 60 days. As of this writing, 20 days have already past and the number is nowhere near the target amount of 35,000 plots. Even if the authorities were to make available 500 plots in a single day, they would not be able to reach the Supreme Court target.
This is in part due to lack of cohesion between the various municipalities operating in Karachi as some local namely, the Lyari Development Authority, Malir Development Authority, Sindh Katchi Abadis Authority and various other bodies, failed to produce even a modicum of action or support. These inactive and futile bodies show no cohesion amongst their ranks and it is as if they have thrown their bigger brother, the KDA to deal with the lion alone. There is no doubt that there is there is a political bias involved in these bodies, which is another conundrum. The primary issues lies in the weakness of the bodies to take any action at all against other entities of influence, which undermines the foundations of the institution in the first place and brings to questions its existence.
It’s comical to think that a housing scheme possesses more power than the local body in any other state, but unfortunately, this is the state of affairs in Karachi as of now. There are some reasons for optimism however, the significant aggression coming from the Supreme Court against the inefficiencies of these local bodies proves that the judiciary is not one to tolerate lethargy and non-seriousness.
While I am optimistic about the KDA’s performance in regaining these amenity plots, I however do not have hope in their absolutely abysmal, lethargic and panicked reaction to bear any fruits in the long-term especially when they bend over to anyone without resistance. As the musical chairs in the next election will only bring further distraught and chaos.
