In March 2013, Perween Rahman, a renowned social worker urban planner and architect, murdered by armed assailants while returning home from work. Her death sparked a global outcry and people around the world called for justice. The case was a reminder of the real threats that activists and rights champions face. Often leading solitary battles, they face intimidation and threats, even violence. People who loved her are demanding justice for Perween Rahman since 9 years.
She lived her life to help those in greatest need
In a time when the world is full of apathy and indifference, it is easy to forget the people who need us most. But Perween Rahman, who murdered in Pakistan on Wednesday, lived her life to help those in greatest need. She was a fierce advocate for the poor, especially those who are deprive of their basic rights.
She worked with impoverished neighbourhoods and communities in Karachi, where she focused on housing and sanitation issues. Moreover, she was also a pioneer in community-based planning, empowering residents to take control of their own development.
Her commitment to the welfare of the poor earned her the admiration of many. She was a media-shy, but devoted social activist who often found herself dealing with people who hobbled by poverty and malnutrition.
But she never lost sight of her vision, even when her work posed risks. As a result, she travelled around the world to share her ideas with other urban planners and development practitioners. She was an invited speaker in countries as diverse as the Netherlands, Germany, Indonesia, Nepal and India.
In her documentary film, Perween Rahman: The Rebel Optimist, director Mahera Omar profiles the life of this dedicated and courageous activist. The film includes interviews from her colleagues and family members who remember the strong woman she was.
She started her career as an architect but was soon convinced that her professional skills could be use to help the poor, rather than designing offices and houses for the rich. Hence, she left her job and joined the Orangi Pilot Project (OPP), an NGO working in the city’s most disadvantaged neighbourhoods.
Her work there involved a wide range of projects, including sanitation and housing initiatives for Orangi Town’s nearly 1.5 million inhabitants. Through the OPP, she teamed up with local government to develop the community’s infrastructure and educate its citizens. She also set up private schools, medical clinics and small businesses.
As she developed her knowledge of the city’s slums, she became aware that residents had no legal status, and that land illegally acquired and occupied by developers to build residential apartments. She documented these squatter villages, or ‘goths’, and helped residents to secure their rights.
She was one of Pakistan’s brightest lights
Perween Rahman was a pioneering social worker who devoted her life to helping those in greatest need. Born in East Pakistan (now Bangladesh), she moved to Karachi after the war of independence. She worked tirelessly to help those in her slum, Orangi Town, and helped them secure their land rights.
She was the director of OPP-RTI which has hailed as one of the world’s best community development NGO and one that has helped thousands of people get access to housing, sanitation, water and health services. Perweene was also a Partner with several organizations that have international reach, including the Stockholm International Water Institute’s World Water Forum.
Throughout her life, she was a passionate advocate for human rights. She dedicated her work to securing the rights of residents of Orangi Town and other informal settlements. She also fought against the rampant land-grabbing that engulfs many of these slums, which are home to thousands of people from different ethnic backgrounds.
Her documentation of land encroachment and her relentless struggle to help locals secure their ownership rights were her most important contributions. Despite the slums’ proximity to the city centre and frequent riots and militancy, she never let her fears deter her from putting her life on the line for those in need.
As she worked, she noticed that squatters had become increasingly vulnerable to the actions of a powerful land mafia. She documented and compiled the records of these encroached lands. In her research, she found that dozens of squatters’ homes had illegally demolished and their land subdivided into plots. The land-grabbing mafia had benefited from her work and was behind her murder.
In 2014, the Supreme Court of Pakistan constituted a Joint Investigation Team (JIT) to investigate Perween’s murder. The JIT, which supervised by the Federal Investigation Agency, interrogated politicians and journalists as well as land developers, including Swati.
The JIT reported that the initial police investigation had failed to produce enough evidence and that the investigation should reopened. In April, 2014, the Supreme Court ruled that a fresh investigation should conducted.
She murdered
In March 2013, internationally renowned architect, urban planner and social activist Perween Rahman murdered by armed assailants while returning home from work. Her death was a tragedy for her family, the people of Pakistan and the world. Everyone is demanding justice for Perween Rahman from government and judiciary.
She was working for a project in Karachi, a sprawling port city that has mushroomed from 45,000 to over 18 million in the last four decades and has a reputation as a breeding ground for graft and corruption. It is a city where land is the biggest commodity and access to it has always been an issue of conflict and violence.
As she travelled around the city, she often came across dangerous situations. Her pioneering work on sanitation in Orangi, a slum in the northwest of the city, sometimes put her at risk as she attempted to improve the lives of her clients and the community.
Nevertheless, she was relentless in her efforts to secure justice for herself and those who she loved and worked with. In the nine years since her death, she and her family have exhausted every legal avenue available to ensure that a fair and impartial investigation takes place.
After a long legal battle, a Federal Joint Investigation Team (FJIT) has submitted its findings in the case of Perween Rahman’s murder to the Supreme Court. The JIT found that her murder aimed at grabbing the office land of the Orangi Pilot Project, an NGO she headed.
The report cited evidence that the accused in the case paid by a local ANP leader to kill her. They also allegedly paid two hitmen — Mehfozullah alias Bhaloo and Moosa – of the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan to do the job.
According to the report, the accused contacted Perween on several occasions, including a phone call in February 2013. They told her that they would pay a sum of Rs4 million if she handed over the land.
On March 13, 2013, she was travelling home in her car when four armed men approached her vehicle on a road in the Banaras area and shot her dead, claiming that it was an act of revenge against her for her work to improve sanitation in Orangi.
We will not let her memory dimmed
Perween Rahman was a social activist, an architect, and an urban planner who dedicated her life to helping those in greatest need. Her work to help communities across the country was a testament to her belief that people can overcome their poverty and create a better world.
She was a committed activist for the rights of Pakistan’s poorest citizens, especially those living in the slums of Karachi. She was a force for change in this city, and her legacy will live on.
Her tireless work on behalf of the residents of Orangi Town, where she worked as director of the Orangi Pilot Project (OPP), led to a reduction in the violence that plagues the city. She also brought together members of the diverse community, reducing underlying tensions and creating a sense of belonging to one another.
It was this passion for the plight of the poor that ultimately led her to murdered in March 2013. Her family is fighting to get justice for their sister.
The acquittal of the men responsible for her murder is a devastating setback to her family and their fight to bring those who murdered her to justice. They are now preparing to appeal the decision to the Supreme Court.
Despite the acquittal, the investigation into Perween’s murder is still ongoing. Her sister Aquila Ismail told media that the men involved have “serious questions to answer.”
In a supplementary charge sheet filed with the Anti-Terrorism Committee (ATC) by the Fifth Joint Investigation Team, it revealed that Perween had identified and named the land grabbers who were planning to illegally take over the OPP office’s land in an interview recorded around 15 months before her assassination. It alleged that the accused were the same people who had killed her, including Abdul Raheem Swati, his son Mohammad Imran Swati, Ahmed Khan alias Pappu Kashmiri and Ayaz Shamzai, aka Swati.
The case investigated by the ATC, and the evidence compiled by a special investigation team. A forensic report will submit to the acquitted men in the near future, according to the court’s ruling. The ATC will then decide whether to reopen the case and bring the culprits to justice.
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