A file photo of Sindh Police personnel. PHOTO: AFP
HYDERABAD:
Syed Ali Haider Shah, a resident of Umerkot, has a different story to tell on Sunday over allegations of police brutality against women and girls during the recent eviction incident in Umerkot.
The images of beaten women and a young girl sitting in a police mobile, her chador – a symbol of modesty in rural society – torn off, created a storm on social networks as well as in political circles.
At least 10 police officers have been suspended for excessive use of force. The squatters were allowed to return to the land from which they had been evicted.
The legal owner of the land, Haider Shah, said the suffering of the Machhi community could have been avoided if the court order to vacate the land had been followed.
Addressing a press conference at the Hyderabad Press Club along with Habib Shah and Saif Shah, he condemned the humiliation faced by women and girls during the eviction process, saying such a situation would not have happened if the Machhi community had vacated the land as per the court’s directions.
Ali Haider Shah said plot numbers 909 and 916, measuring 10,000 square feet, were purchased by his late father, Syed Hussain Ali Shah, from Alam Palli around three decades ago. He explained that Alam Khan Palli had temporarily allowed the Machhi community to reside on around 2,000 square feet of land. However, after selling the property, the previous owner asked them to vacate the space. They first asked for time, but then went to court.
He said his late father fought a protracted legal battle to establish ownership of the land and after his father’s death the power of attorney was transferred to their mother. According to him, the case lasted for 32 years, and eventually courts at all levels declared the Machhi community’s claims false and ordered the land to be vacated.
He said the court ordered that the plots be vacated and possession handed over to them in the presence of a surveyor, a bailiff and the police. However, when the operation was carried out, members of the Machhi community refused to vacate the land, thus worsening the situation. The action was then postponed following the intervention of local elders to allow tensions to ease.
Ali Haider Shah further said that a campaign was launched against them on social media without hearing their side of the story, which he termed as unfair and damaging to their family’s reputation. He said they had all the legal documents for the property, but still faced a long legal battle.
He alleged that instead of occupying 2,000 square feet, the Machhi community took over the entire 10,000 square feet of land. He called on social media users and the public to examine the matter carefully and form an opinion only after hearing both sides, in order to ensure justice and avoid any injustice or humiliation to anyone.
