PAKISTAN: Over hundred houses of labourers were demolished on the instruction of a Minister; a journalist was shot and severely injured

Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that more than 108 houses in Toba Tek district, Punjab province, have been illegally demolished by the provincial Department of Revenue with the help of the police. A journalist was injured by a gunshot from the henchmen of the land grabbers. 68 displaced persons were arrested and allegedly tortured by the police for resisting the demolition. The displaced persons have been left with no roof for many days. One child died of dehydration under the heat and a baby is suffering from a heat stroke and is severely ill.

The demolition squad of the ministry is demanding to file terrorist cases against the victims for resisting the demolition of houses.

CASE NARRATIVE:

On May 27, 2010, a demolition squad of the ministry of Revenue of the government of Punjab province came at 8 p.m. with heavy contingent of police and heavy machines including cranes, bulldozers, CAT pillars machines, at the Chak 241, G.B. Garha, tehsil Gojra, district Toba Tek Singh, Punjab province, to demolish the houses of daily wage earner labourers who were residing in G.B. Garha since 1980.

The demolition was so sudden that the inhabitant did not know how to react before the violence. The deputy district officer, Mr. Mohammad Amin Owaisi and tehsildar (revenue officer) of Gojra tehsil, Mr. Usman Umer ordered them through megaphones to vacate their houses within 15 minutes. The people, men and women, tried to talk with the authorities to know why their houses were being targeted, considering the fact that the Chak 241, G.B., Garha has been granted to them in 1980 and that they legally occupy the area. They have electricity connections from the government and water connections from the sub district municipal administration. The demolition squad, which consisted of the ministry staff and sub district municipality workers, ignored the request of the inhabitants and moved their machines. The deputy district officer of the ministry asked the police to use force against the inhabitants. Immediately, the police, using tear gas and batons, charged against the people.

An elderly widow, Fatima, got severely injured by a bulldozer while resisting the demolition of her house.  She was saved by neighbours when the bulldozer was reportedly about to crush her. The people protested against this murderous attack, but the police of Saddar police station, Gojra, charged with batons and arrested 68 persons on the charges of interfering in the work of the government, looting and pelting stones on the demolition squad.

On the next day, Mr. Arshad Mahmood Nasir, a journalist and president of Gojra press club, went to the police station to bail out the arrested persons. He was shot at by the henchmen of the land grabbers, who are friends of the Minister of Revenue of Punjab province. Both his legs were badly injured and he was brought to the hospital to be treated. One attacker, Mohammad Sarwar was arrested but the other attackers, Mohammad Ismail, Mohammad Afzal, Zahid Abbas, Anwar-ul-haq, Mohammad Arshad, have still not yet been arrested, even though a First Information Report (FIR) was filed against them.

The people are forced to live out in the open, under the sizzling heat. One boy died of dehydration because of the unbearable heat and a baby girl is seriously ill. The police and demolition squad also allegedly looted the inhabitants’ houses. It is believed that Mr. Haji Mohammad Ishaque, the provincial Minister of Revenue, wanted to vacate the houses built on Chak 241, G.B. for commercial purposes. On his instructions, the station house officer (SHO) Mohammad Ilyas Sahi has filed cases against the 68 persons under false charges of anti-state activities.

Please find the photographs of the demolition; the people forced to live out in the open and the injured journalist. Photo 1, 2 and 3

The laws which were violated:

According to the Pakistani laws, no displacement or demolition can take place without the authorisation of the lawful authority of a first class magistrate. According to the Land Acquisition Act 1894 the authorities have to follow some indispensable steps before proceeding to the seizure of any land for a public purpose. They must explain for which purpose the land will be seized; they must conduct a survey about the land; if people live on that land, they must be able to issue inquiries to the authorities. A legal notice must be issued, the displacement can occur only after a sufficient time and satisfying reparation and relocation must be provided to the displaced people.

Article 24 (1) of the Pakistan constitution states that no person should be deprived of his property. Sub section 2 of the article 24 states that no property shall be compulsorily acquired or taken possession for a public purpose.

The authorities’ actions in Chak 241, G. B. Gojra are also in violation of sections 166, 441, 444 and 446 of Pakistan Penal Code (PPC).

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

Chak 241 G.B. Gojra sub district was a grazing land and was allocated to poor people who were living in tent houses in the area by the government of Punjab in 1980. After some time, the Faisalabad electric supply corporation installed electric meters to provide them with electricity.  . They were also provided with running water by the tehsil (sub-district) municipal corporation of Gojra. There are more than 200 concrete houses and around 600 people are residing in the area. Since some time, the land grabbers were pushing the inhabitants to vacate the Chak and were threatening them. It is said that the Minister of Revenue was approached by the land grabbers to get the area vacated. The local authorities have never explained for which purpose the land was required. The area has also never been surveyed.

SUGGESTED ACTION:

Please write to the authorities to show your concern about the illegal and unconstitutional displacement of 600 poor persons by the Department of Revenue in order to grab their land. Please urge them to provide satisfying compensation to the inhabitants for the looting and violence they have suffered and to immediately give them their land back. The injured journalist must be provided with adequate medical treatment. Please demand that the persons responsible for the illegal demolition of the Chak be prosecuted, as well as those who shot the journalist. On the contrary, all cases that have been charged against the inhabitants must be cancelled.

The AHRC writes a separate letter to UN Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living and on the right to non-discrimination in this context, calling for his intervention into this case.

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