The Supreme Court (SC) on Tuesday ordered the authorities concerned to demolish a mosque, shrine and cemetery built on amenity parks’ land near Tariq Road in Karachi.
A case against the construction of Madinah Mosque and other encroachments on the land meant for a park on Tariq Road was heard at the Supreme Court’s Karachi Registry.
The District Municipal Corporation (DMC) east administrator maintained that the mosque was constructed on the park’s land. Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Justice Gulzar Ahmed expressed anger over the land still being occupied, and reprimanded the district administrator over Karachi’s condition.
“What have you done with this city? The city has been built in a way that it now needs to be rebuilt from the scratch, like Poland, Germany and France,” the CJP remarked.
He further said that the area of PECHS had been turned into a huge slum, and tall buildings were constructed in even the small alleyways.
“What would happen if a 6.0 magnitude earthquake struck the city?” the CJP asked, adding that millions would lose their lives. The case for restoration of the Kidney Hill Park was also heard in the apex court.
Amber Ali of Shehri – Citizens For A Better Environment said that the construction of Al-Fatah Mosque had resumed on the upper part of the park’s land.
Khawaja Shams, counsel for the mosque administration, said that the land was obtained from the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) through auction. However, he claimed that a new mosque was being built in its place.
“Assistant Commissioner Asma Batool has built a mausoleum and a graveyard to fuel sectarian rift. Bismillah Mosque was also built overnight to sow sectarianism,” the lawyer stated.
Justice Qazi Muhammad Amin remarked that no place of worship could be built on illegal land. He added that the KMC did not have the authority to issue a licence for the construction of a mosque on land meant for a park.
Chief Justice Gulzar Ahmed also directed that no one should be stopped from offering prayers at any spot in the park, and sought a report from Karachi commissioner into the case in the next hearing.
The SC rejected Al-Fatah Mosque administration’s request for a review and ordered them to return the land allotted for the mosque to the KMC. It further revoked the licence issued by the KMC. The chief justice reprimanded Asma Batool, stating that there was a mention of only one grave at the last hearing, but the whole area now seems to have been turned into a graveyard.
Khawaja Shams claimed that Asma had also stopped the demolition of Nasla Tower. Furthermore, he added that some women have appealed to the court that Asma was blackmailing them with the help of her husband, who was a Mukhtiarkar (revenue official). After hearing the arguments, Justice Gulzar warned the assistant commissioner of losing her job, and never getting another one. “If there is ever a stone in front of you, you will not remove it. You will just ignore it and leave,” he castigated.
“The whole country has gone blind,” Justice Qazi Amin lambasted, questioning what “these people” were doing. The court further ordered the complete relinquishment of the land in Kidney Hill Park, as well as the removal of Bismillah Mosque, mausoleum and cemetery within the park.
Meanwhile, police officials said on Monday that a case had been registered against the government officers who approved the building plans of Karachi’s Nasla Tower.
The FIR registered at Ferozabad Police Station nominated officers of the Sindh Building Control Authority (SBCA), Sindhi Muslim Cooperative Housing Society (SMCHS), and other relevant departments.
According to police, they have asked for names of the culprits from the SBCA and the SMCHS and a police team also visited the former’s offices in this regard. After hearing arguments from all the parties concerned, the top court ordered the deployment of armed security guards in the park to prevent any unauthorised construction from taking place.
