Thousands of protesters attacked on Sunday Bahria Town Karachi and set fire to several shops and vehicles in the housing society, the police and residents said. A large number of protesters were staging a sit-in outside the housing society off the Super Highway. They were protesting what they say their forceful eviction from their ancestral lands in the vicinity. A heavy contingent of police was on the spot to deal with any untoward situation, while the Bahria Town management sealed the entrance with containers. But the protesters breached the barricaded gate and entered the housing society. A Suzuki car showroom and a fast food joint were among the establishments torched by the protesters, according to an eyewitness. The police managed to disperse protesters after some time. The sit-in was organised by residents of nearby villages, who say they had been forced to give their land to Bahria Town. The sit-in was attended by members of the Sindh United Party, Sindh Taraqi Pasand Party, Qaumi Awami Tehreek, Jiye Sindh Mahaaz, Awami Workers Party, Awami Jamhoori Party, Sindh Mazahmat Tehreek, Hari Committee and the Karachi Indigenous Rights Alliance. In May 2018, the Supreme Court had ruled that the Malir Development Authority illegally granted land to Bahria Town Karachi. The Sindh government had allotted the land to MDA for building a housing scheme. The MDA, however, exchanged the land with Bahria Town, the court said. Bahria Town was even barred from selling any plot or apartment in the housing scheme. In March 2019, the top court accepted Bahria Town’s offer to pay Rs460 billion to acquire 16,896 acres off Karachi’s Super Highway. It did not include Bahria Town’s Sports City project.

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