DAWN - Cowasjee Corner; 04 October, 1998
Spurring strife - 2
Ardeshir Cowasjee
TO repeat, spurring on sectarian and ethnic strife breeds terrorism. Has Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif counted how many innocent lives have been lost and how many more have been maimed and terrorized in the country since he embarked on his latest diversion, the proposed Fifteenth Constitutional Amendment.
My column of last week concerning the vicissitudes of SHEHRI has a sequel. For the sake of clarity, I backtrack.
On January 3 this year, 12 citizens of Karachi (Roland de Souza amongst them) wrote to the then Chief Justice of the Sindh High Court, Wajihuddin Ahmad: "We are residents of Garden East, Jamshed Quarters and Soldier Bazaar. We have been overwhelmed by the mushrooming of unauthorized high-rises that are being brazenly erected on residential plots, in complete defiance of the building regulations." They gave details of 35 buildings under construction, many contravening the law protecting the sanctity of Jinnah's mausoleum, and requested the CJ to convert their complaint into a constitutional petition.
Appalled, the good CJ had the issues examined. Satisfied, he converted the complaint into CP 160/98 and ordered the Karachi Building Control Authority (KBCA) and others to take preventive action entailing the sealing of the illegal constructions.
This angered the recalcitrant builders. They financed and fronted Mohammad Faruq Memon Faria, a PPP activist and builder of sorts, to file a constitutional petition (337/98) against the CJ, inter alia, challenging his conduct of affairs.
Soon thereafter Justice Wajihuddin was elevated to the Supreme Court. The prevailing corruption within and outside the corridors of law then facilitated the breaking of seals, continuance of unlawful construction and unlawful occupation of certain premises. The cases and appeals drag on, mired in convoluted arguments and incessant adjournments.
On March 10, Faria, claiming to be the chairman of the 'Young Memons Social Welfare Group' inserted an advertisement in the Karachi newspaper 'Qaumi Akhbar' appealing to the prime minister, governor and chief minister of Sindh and senior minister Farooq Sattar to intervene and help the builders and occupiers, and decrying the efforts of SHEHRI. Since then, the same publication has carried numerous news items attacking this environmental-protection NGO.
In the meantime, SHEHRI and other members of the oversee committee of the KBCA helped identify other 'dangerous' commercial high-rises mushrooming along Sharea Faisal, compelling the KBCA to publish a notice in Dawn of September 1: "The following buildings on Sharea Faisal are being constructed in contravention of the approved building plans and the general public is warned not to enter into any transaction with the builders." Listed were 26 constructions. The people were warned that these potentially dangerous buildings do not conform to approved plans, are being built unsupervised by KBCA-licensed architects and engineers, as required by law, and are violative of "the earthquake resistance requirements" their height warrants.
The recalcitrant builders, spurred on by Nawaz Sharif's Fifteenth Amendment draft to misuse and manipulate religion, resorted to an attack on two minority members of the 500-odd SHEHRI members.
On September 2, 'Qaumi Akhbar' carried a news item alleging that Roland de Souza of SHEHRI had advocated that the construction of two mosques be halted. A couple of days later, the same publication printed photographs of members of the Jamaat-e-Janisaran-e-Islam in front of the Press Club, waving banners demanding my arrest and Roland's punishment.
Next came posters and banners proclaiming that SHEHRI was a Jewish organization, that Roland and I were Jewish agents, American agents, traitors, and that, in addition, I was Clinton's brother.
When I met the editor of 'Quami Akhbar' during the course of the week commencing September 21, I pointed out to him that the letter he had published, allegedly written by Roland to the CC-KBCA, was so evidently a forgery - letterhead, signature, language and all, plus the fact that it was addressed to Chief Controller Misbah who was not the CC on the date shown on the letter - and that the present CC-KBCA had also confirmed in writing that his office had received no such letter.
Nonplussed and running to form, he accused me of being a blackmailer. Who exactly have I blackmailed? I asked. His immediate response : the builders of Glass Towers. He accused me of first attacking the builders, then extorting Rs.40 lakhs, and thereafter keeping quiet while they illegally built on. We have cases and appeals pending in the High and Supreme Courts, I told him, against both Glass Towers and Shaista's Plaza (at the Do Talwar roundabout) both commercial complexes being built by Memons, on residential plots, and not even in accordance with plans for which they 'managed' to get approval. During the same week a hall was booked by one 'Mr. Jamil' at a 5-star hotel for a seminar to be held at 3 p.m. on September 29, with a guaranteed attendance of 200 persons. The man gave telephone number 4917143 as his contact and paid Rs.22,850 in cash.
An invitation card was issued in the name of Maulana Azizur Rehman Rehmani, Amir, Jamaat-i-Janisaran-i-Islam, informing the invitees that SHEHRI, a gang headed by Cowasjee and de Souza, has issued various statements against the building of mosques in Karachi, that the seminar is being held to inform people accordingly. A list of 23 speakers was given on the reverse.
On September 30, 'The News' (Karachi edition) printed a news item headed 'Ulema condemn NGO's anti-Islam activities.' The correspondent reported that the ulema, i.e. the Jamaat-i-Janisaran-i-Islam, had "demanded a complete ban on the activities of SHEHRI" which is "carrying out anti-Islam policies under the garb of social services." Roland's forged letter was of course cited. One of the speakers reportedly declared: "Cowasjee's articles are published in English language and so have a limited readership otherwise he would have been eliminated by Muslims years ago." He also said that the "ulema were compiling a Fatwa against Cowasjee and Roland and death edict would be issued if they were not arrested and tried in a Shariat court."
'Qaumi Akhbar', quite naturally, went to town, with blazing headlines. To quote just three: "If Cowasjee and de Souza do not hold their tongues against mosques and Islamic rules the people will be called upon to handle the matter themselves"; "Blackmailing is done in the name of SHEHRI"; "Only a Jew could think about an action against mosques." The report ended with the cheering news that throughout the seminar there were rousing shouts of 'Hang Cowasjee and de Souza."
Recognizing the name Thanvi (our families have known each other since the days of Maulana Ehteshamul Haq Thanvi) amongst the speakers listed on the invitation card, I called on Maulana Amjad Thanvi to ask him to explain to me who is who, what is what and why all this is happening. The Maulana is very proud of the education he received at Christian missionary school, St Mary's of Sukkur. He expressed his happiness at the fact that one of his sons is now being educated at the Parsi-founded NED College, another son at St Patrick's School, and that his wife and daughter are both alumni of St Joseph's Convent.
He explained that a Jamaat is easily formed. It is merely a get-together by a handful of people. The JJI is relatively unknown and possibly only recently formed. His elder brother, Maulana Asad Thanvi, a JUI leader, whose name was listed, is angry as he was neither invited, nor did he attend the seminar. The list of invitees included builders, a chemist, a motor car dealer, a discredited labour union leader, and a few unknown Maulanas. Thanvi had read my columns and has never felt that I have written anything that could be vaguely termed anti-Islamic. He and his brother own a construction company. They know Roland and are convinced that he would never even have contemplated what he is alleged to have done. He felt sure that the few Maulanas of repute who had been involved had been led astray. He promised to meet them and give them the factual truth.
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif should explain to his followers that when he goes West asking for money, more often than not each man he has to deal with is a Jew, that the major part of the money that is lent to us to keep us going, and to help fill his own pockets, is Jewish money. Spurring enmity, strife and violence does neither him nor us any good. He should rather concentrate on the 50 million-odd people of his country who are living below the poverty line. The nation is sick to death of being robbed by the two governments which have been in power for ten years. The want of the poor is meagre: a loaf of bread, not even a glass of wine, but merely a glass of the elusive potable water with which to quench their thirst.