The nationalist parties and fishermen organisations have announced protest drive against the allotment of twin islands to foreign companies near Karachi.
The Sindh United Party workers observed a hunger strike for the second consecutive day on Monday outside the Karachi Press Club against the allotment of islands.
Meanwhile, the Pakistan Fisherfolk Forum (PFF) announced a phase wise campaign to protect the islands, proposed to be handed over to investors to build mega projects there.
The meeting chaired by the PFF chairperson Muhammed Ali Shah was attended by community leaders and activists living in the coastal villages, located along 127-km long city coast to discuss the issue and take timely decision.
According to media reports, real estate tycoon Malik Riaz’s Bahria Town and a US investment group signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for $15 to 20 billion investment to develop Net City, Education City, Health City, Port City and other infrastructure projects at the islands, located near Karachi’s coastal locality Ibrahim Hydri.
It is also in the plan to build worlds’ most modern shopping mall on the Island City, which would deal with international brands. But the community elders in the meeting held at the PFF office vowed not to allow occupying their ancestral lands, as these islands are places where hundreds of community people anchor their vessels during the fishing and stay there for weeks.
Shah said these were the main routes of fishing vessels move to the open sea and hundreds of fishermen depend on this traditional source of livelihood. These were our ancestral assets and nobody from outside had right to sell the islands without consulting.
The PPP-led government has done nothing during its five-year tenure for the development of the coastal villages. The same approach was adopted by all the successive governments, which ignored the coastal communities, the meeting observed.
According to decisions, PFF statement said the campaign will be launched from March 22 with staging protest rally. Apart from this, there will be meeting in which community stakeholders, village chieftains and activists will participate to initiate mobilization at village level.
An all parties’ conference (APC) would be organized March 30 in Karachi to discuss the issue and stop building such infrastructures and protect natural resources.
The community people with hundreds of fisherwomen will stage Long March from coastal locality Ibrahim Hydri to Karachi Press Club on April 5 to mark their protest against the mega project.
After this, the PFF being enjoying support of fishermen, farmers, herdsmen and labourers will observe provincial level protest with civil society and rights activists against the new move to sell out the natural resources of the coastal communities.
It is not the first time, the Sindh government led by then chief minister Arbab Ghulam Rahim also tried to sell these islands to Dubai-based real estate company, Emaar but the community people foiled the attempt through showing strength and protests.
Saeed Baloch, Majeed Motani, Sami Memon and others also attended the meeting.
2012 Nawaiwaqt Group of Newspapers