KARACHI: Residents of Gul Muhammad Arifani village near Shidi Goth, including women and children, staged a protest outside the District Press Club Malir against what they allege is an attempt by an influential builder to occupy village welfare land.
The protest remained peaceful. No comment from the builder was available.
Protesters carried placards and raised slogans against a builder they named as Faizuddin, also known as Babu Pathan, whom they accused of attempting to occupy welfare land in Deh Sanhro, Tapo Landhi.
Residents said the land is designated for village welfare and that they possess ownership documents supporting their claim.
They further alleged that the builder has been threatening them and using police influence to press the acquisition.
Residents also said an attempt had been made to take 10 acres of survey land belonging to villager Rajab Khaskheli.
The Lahore Times has not independently examined the ownership documents referenced by the protesters, and the allegations remain untested.
Sindh Taraqqi Pasand Party leaders Khair Muhammad Magsi, Gul Mallah and Rashid Sadhayo joined the demonstration.
The STP leaders condemned land grabbing in Malir carried out, they said, under the cover of various project names, and demanded that the Deputy Commissioner Malir and other authorities take immediate action and provide justice to the villagers.
Residents appealed to the Chief Minister Sindh and the Inspector General of Police Sindh to intervene in the matter.
The specific appeal to the IG Sindh follows the protesters’ allegation that police influence is being deployed in the dispute — a claim that, if pursued, would fall within departmental accountability mechanisms rather than land revenue processes alone.
Efforts to reach the named builder for a response were unsuccessful at the time of publication. This report will be updated if a statement is provided.
No case has been reported registered in connection with the allegations, and no order restraining construction or transfer has been reported.
Malir district sits at the expanding edge of Karachi’s built-up area, where agricultural and village land meets the city’s outward development pressure. The resulting boundary — between goth land held under customary and revenue arrangements and land brought into formal development schemes — has been a persistent source of dispute across the district.
Villages in the area frequently hold land under revenue records that predate modern development mapping, and residents commonly report difficulty in asserting those records against organised commercial claims backed by legal and administrative capacity.
Deh and tapo designations, which appear in the residents’ account, are units of the revenue survey system. Disputes at this level are typically adjudicated through revenue authorities and the courts, with the Deputy Commissioner’s office holding jurisdiction over demarcation and possession questions at first instance.
The demands are procedural rather than compensatory: an intervention by the Deputy Commissioner Malir, action by provincial authorities and protection of the village land from occupation.
The presence of women and children at the demonstration reflects the nature of the claim being asserted — one framed around collective village welfare land rather than individual commercial holdings.
Allegations reported in this story are attributed to protesting residents and STP leaders. They have not been established as fact and the named individual has not responded.
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