Sindh demands federal govt withdraw 'illegal' ordinance to take over twin islands near Karachi

[Saiyan0321]

Sindh demands federal govt withdraw 'illegal' ordinance to take over twin islands near Karachi


The Sindh government on Tuesday asked the federal government to "immediately" withdraw an ordinance aimed at taking control of two islands along Karachi's coast, saying the islands belonged exclusively to the people and the government of Sindh.

At a press conference in Karachi, representatives of the provincial government said the Sindh cabinet had also decided not to hold any further discussion with the Centre regarding the development of the islands.

Keeping parliament out of the loop, President Arif Alvi on August 31 promulgated the Pakistan Islands Development Authority (PIDA) Ordinance, 2020, to facilitate the Centre to take control of Sindh’s two islands — Bundal and Buddo. The ordinance was notified the following day.

Just two weeks later, President Alvi discussed the fate of Bundal Island's development with real estate tycoons and businessmen, including Malik Riaz, Aqeel Karim Dedhi and Arif Habib.




The PIDA is being established “for the development and management of the islands in the internal waters and territorial waters of Pakistan”, but only Bundal and Buddo islands have been mentioned as “specified areas” in the first schedule of the ordinance.

The enactment of the ordinance triggered strong criticism from the ruling party of Sindh, with PPP chairperson Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari on Monday equating the move with the illegal annexation of Indian-occupied Jammu and Kashmir by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi last year.

On Tuesday, Sindh Information Minister Syed Nasir Hussain Shah said the islands "were, are and will remain the property of Sindh", adding that the province did not desire any development in which its people were not involved and which was without the Sindh government's approval.

"We will not allow any action that seeks to usurp Sindh's rights and land and could harm the local population," he said.

Murtaza Wahab, the provincial government's spokesperson, said the Constitution clearly stated that the land within a province's limits belonged to the provincial government.

Through the PIDA ordinance, he said, the federal government had "tried to give the impression that they can add any island to federal property by amending this schedule. This is a completely unconstitutional act done by the federal government."

He further said the Sindh cabinet today had "unanimously expressed reservations" over and condemned the move and demanded that the federal government "withdraw this illegal ordinance forthwith".

Terming the ordinance "an encroachment on the provincial authority and powers", Wahab said the Sindh government had long maintained that the islands were a property of the people and government of Sindh.

"When the federal government told Sindh that they wanted to carry out development on these islands, the Sindh government categorically informed them that these islands are property of Sindh government and people," he added, denying the impression that "the Sindh government did not fight Sindh's case."

According to Wahab, the Sindh government after being approached by the Centre had put forward four conditions regarding the islands' development, which included the points that "the islands are Sindh's property and will be used as per the Constitution; the terms and conditions of whatever development is carried out will be shared with us and we will discuss them; and the interests of the local population [and] fishermen will be prioritised."

He said the provincial government had showed willingness to the proposal "in good faith" and for the progress of the local residents.

But "on September 2, they (Centre) attacked the rights of Sindh and Balochistan by issuing this ordinance without any consultation and showed ownership of something which is not theirs," the spokesperson said, terming the move "illegal and unethical".

He said the ordinance, published in the Gazette on September 2, was made public in the first week of October, which he alleged showed the federal government's "ill-intent".

"The Sindh cabinet ... has decided that these islands are the property of Sindh's people, government and province," he reiterated. "We have rejected this ordinance and requested the federal government to immediately withdraw it."

He said the talks that the Sindh government planned to hold with the Centre regarding the islands "in good faith" will no longer be taken forward "because we don't trust your word anymore".

A letter addressed to the federal government regarding the proposal for the islands' development was also withdrawn by the Sindh cabinet, Wahab told the news conference.

'Cat is out of the bag'
Not long after the presser, Federal Minister for Maritime Affairs Ali Haider Zaidi tweeted a letter in which the Sindh government appeared to have approved development by the Centre on Bundal Island. The letter was apparently written in response to a July 2, 2020, communique sent to the Sindh chief secretary by the federal government regarding development on the island.

"In pursuance of the said request made by [the] federal government, the provincial cabinet has decided to make the said island available to the federal government, as per law, for the purpose mentioned in [the Centre's letter] ... in public interest, on such terms and conditions as may be agreed upon," read the letter sent by the secretary of Sindh's Land Utilisation Department to the Cabinet Division's secretary.

The letter shared by Zaidi added that "any development or construction activity on [Bundal] Island by the federal government shall also protect and promote the legitimate interests of local fishermen/population."




"The cat is out of the bag. All can see how hypocritical PPP leadership is," Zaidi wrote in his tweet accompanying the letter.

He said "no unconstitutional steps" had been taken on Bundal Island, adding that the Bundal and Buddo islands fell under Port Qasim Authority's (PQA) coordinates.

At a press conference, Information Minister Shibli Faraz also defended the federal government, saying the "status of reclaimed land" and other such issues were technical matters.

Referring to Bilawal's comment equating the ordinance move with the annexation of Kashmir, the minister said: "We do something noble ... and Bilawal said what we are doing is what Modi did to Kashmir. We are trying to create opportunities for you to benefit your people and you are objecting to this? Are we an outside country? Do you not consider us Pakistani?"

Sindh demands federal govt withdraw 'illegal' ordinance to take over twin islands near Karachi

Federal ministers defend Centre's move; Ali Zaidi shares letter showing Sindh's govt's approval for Bundal Island development.

www.dawn.com

 

[Saithan]

Sindh demands federal govt withdraw 'illegal' ordinance to take over twin islands near Karachi


The Sindh government on Tuesday asked the federal government to "immediately" withdraw an ordinance aimed at taking control of two islands along Karachi's coast, saying the islands belonged exclusively to the people and the government of Sindh.

At a press conference in Karachi, representatives of the provincial government said the Sindh cabinet had also decided not to hold any further discussion with the Centre regarding the development of the islands.

Keeping parliament out of the loop, President Arif Alvi on August 31 promulgated the Pakistan Islands Development Authority (PIDA) Ordinance, 2020, to facilitate the Centre to take control of Sindh’s two islands — Bundal and Buddo. The ordinance was notified the following day.

Just two weeks later, President Alvi discussed the fate of Bundal Island's development with real estate tycoons and businessmen, including Malik Riaz, Aqeel Karim Dedhi and Arif Habib.




The PIDA is being established “for the development and management of the islands in the internal waters and territorial waters of Pakistan”, but only Bundal and Buddo islands have been mentioned as “specified areas” in the first schedule of the ordinance.

The enactment of the ordinance triggered strong criticism from the ruling party of Sindh, with PPP chairperson Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari on Monday equating the move with the illegal annexation of Indian-occupied Jammu and Kashmir by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi last year.

On Tuesday, Sindh Information Minister Syed Nasir Hussain Shah said the islands "were, are and will remain the property of Sindh", adding that the province did not desire any development in which its people were not involved and which was without the Sindh government's approval.

"We will not allow any action that seeks to usurp Sindh's rights and land and could harm the local population," he said.

Murtaza Wahab, the provincial government's spokesperson, said the Constitution clearly stated that the land within a province's limits belonged to the provincial government.

Through the PIDA ordinance, he said, the federal government had "tried to give the impression that they can add any island to federal property by amending this schedule. This is a completely unconstitutional act done by the federal government."

He further said the Sindh cabinet today had "unanimously expressed reservations" over and condemned the move and demanded that the federal government "withdraw this illegal ordinance forthwith".

Terming the ordinance "an encroachment on the provincial authority and powers", Wahab said the Sindh government had long maintained that the islands were a property of the people and government of Sindh.

"When the federal government told Sindh that they wanted to carry out development on these islands, the Sindh government categorically informed them that these islands are property of Sindh government and people," he added, denying the impression that "the Sindh government did not fight Sindh's case."

According to Wahab, the Sindh government after being approached by the Centre had put forward four conditions regarding the islands' development, which included the points that "the islands are Sindh's property and will be used as per the Constitution; the terms and conditions of whatever development is carried out will be shared with us and we will discuss them; and the interests of the local population [and] fishermen will be prioritised."

He said the provincial government had showed willingness to the proposal "in good faith" and for the progress of the local residents.

But "on September 2, they (Centre) attacked the rights of Sindh and Balochistan by issuing this ordinance without any consultation and showed ownership of something which is not theirs," the spokesperson said, terming the move "illegal and unethical".

He said the ordinance, published in the Gazette on September 2, was made public in the first week of October, which he alleged showed the federal government's "ill-intent".

"The Sindh cabinet ... has decided that these islands are the property of Sindh's people, government and province," he reiterated. "We have rejected this ordinance and requested the federal government to immediately withdraw it."

He said the talks that the Sindh government planned to hold with the Centre regarding the islands "in good faith" will no longer be taken forward "because we don't trust your word anymore".

A letter addressed to the federal government regarding the proposal for the islands' development was also withdrawn by the Sindh cabinet, Wahab told the news conference.

'Cat is out of the bag'
Not long after the presser, Federal Minister for Maritime Affairs Ali Haider Zaidi tweeted a letter in which the Sindh government appeared to have approved development by the Centre on Bundal Island. The letter was apparently written in response to a July 2, 2020, communique sent to the Sindh chief secretary by the federal government regarding development on the island.

"In pursuance of the said request made by [the] federal government, the provincial cabinet has decided to make the said island available to the federal government, as per law, for the purpose mentioned in [the Centre's letter] ... in public interest, on such terms and conditions as may be agreed upon," read the letter sent by the secretary of Sindh's Land Utilisation Department to the Cabinet Division's secretary.

The letter shared by Zaidi added that "any development or construction activity on [Bundal] Island by the federal government shall also protect and promote the legitimate interests of local fishermen/population."




"The cat is out of the bag. All can see how hypocritical PPP leadership is," Zaidi wrote in his tweet accompanying the letter.

He said "no unconstitutional steps" had been taken on Bundal Island, adding that the Bundal and Buddo islands fell under Port Qasim Authority's (PQA) coordinates.

At a press conference, Information Minister Shibli Faraz also defended the federal government, saying the "status of reclaimed land" and other such issues were technical matters.

Referring to Bilawal's comment equating the ordinance move with the annexation of Kashmir, the minister said: "We do something noble ... and Bilawal said what we are doing is what Modi did to Kashmir. We are trying to create opportunities for you to benefit your people and you are objecting to this? Are we an outside country? Do you not consider us Pakistani?"

Sindh demands federal govt withdraw 'illegal' ordinance to take over twin islands near Karachi

Federal ministers defend Centre's move; Ali Zaidi shares letter showing Sindh's govt's approval for Bundal Island development.

www.dawn.com

Wait, a province is interfering with the states acquisition of islands within it’s borders ?

Is this a political tusle to show strength or such ?

 

[Kaptaan]

Is this a political tusle to show strength or such ?

It's a friggin anchor and chain around Pakistan's neck. That is what Karachi has become. Pakistan frankly would be better without it!

 

[Yoyo]

It's a friggin anchor and chain around Pakistan's neck. That is what Karachi has become. Pakistan frankly would be better without it!

Isn't Karachi an important port city and absolutely crucial for Pakistani trade?

 

[Saiyan0321]

The problem is entirely legal and is another display of how large scale amendments like the 18th amendment must constitutionally evolve through the legal questions that lawmakers should predict through discussion. The lack of argument on the amendment and the subsequent inability of our lawmakers to talk about law and more about rubbish in the parliament displays the rise of such legal questions and i believe it will reach the court for it to be answered right just like the case of federal property in provinces.

The problem is the lack of proper implementation of the constitutional law and its proper explanation. The law that covers this is the following

172. Ownerless property.—(1) Any property which has no rightful owner shall, if located in a Province, vest in the Government of that Province, and in every other case, in the Federal Government.

(2) All lands, minerals and other things of value within the continental shelf or underlying the ocean 1[beyond] the territorial waters of Pakistan shall vest in the Federal Government.


2[(3) Subject to the existing commitments and obligations, mineral oil and natural gas within the Province or the territorial waters adjacent thereto shall vest jointly and equally in that Province and the Federal Government.]

Previously before the amendment without argument all mineral, gas and ownerless land rights belonged to the federal but the 18th amendment brought two changes to this as can be seen.

First was addition of beyond as previously it contained within so Article 172 section 2 read as 'Within; rather than 'Beyond' which meant that the lands and minerals in territorial waters belonged to the federal government.

Second was addition of Article 172 section 3 which held that all mineral, oil, and natural gas should be held jointly by province and federal.

Now here is the legal problem.

First of all even though Article 172 Section 2 states to beyond but Article 172 section 3 does not include the world LAND in it and speaks only of Mineral oil and Natural gas being jointly held and this omission would speak that the lawmakers did not mean to include lands of the territorial waters within the joint holding and the words 'Subject to the existing commitments and obligations' means that the islands already in place would not change owner hands and would remain with the Federal as they have always been. The problem is that the provincial government is using Article 172 section 3 to include 'Land' as well but the Exclusion of the world 'Land' means that the 'Land' on territorial waters still belong to the Federal.
However the second problem is that the Federal Legislative does not include Islands or land on territorial sea as a legislative topic and this can be seen in the perusal of the ordinance which used Ports Authority to create ownership of lands rather than pass a bill on territorial land ownership.

This confusion is now creating a class between province and federal. The question can only be answered in the Supreme Court and i get the feeling that the court may go for my interpretation rather than the provincial one. Also the constant saying no court can call it to question is rubbish and has been declared void by courts again and again. This will be an interesting case and will help the constitutional evolution of Pakistan. As for Sindh, they would protest no matter what after the name of the game is victimization and they will play that card again and again

 

[Saithan]

It's a friggin anchor and chain around Pakistan's neck. That is what Karachi has become. Pakistan frankly would be better without it!

I don’t know enough about it’s history to have a say. But I will take a wild guess that it’s related to what I read about many indian muslims moving there. And thus they now have majority in the city/province.

You’ll have to exert effort to wrest the control from them. Possibly merge it or redraw borders to affect voterbase.

I’d start by having prosecutor open corruption cases granted they have enough material for such a case. Enough cases and jailing some of them will rock the foundation.

 

[Saiyan0321]

Wait, a province is interfering with the states acquisition of islands within it’s borders ?

Is this a political tusle to show strength or such ?

Political tussle would have followed irrespectively but the problem stems from legal flaws and frankly legislators not doing their jobs. These things are discussed in parliaments and amendments brought forth before it becomes an internal tussle.

 

[Saiyan0321]

'Subject to the existing commitments and obligations'

Now i was reading a report of a senate commission signed by Chairman Raza Rabbani in 2018 where the words were perused and the commission was of the conclusion that the words mean that the obligations and agreements so signed shall remain so and if we are to use this as a reference in ownerless property at territorial waters then previous ownership should continue which means that the provinces were federal territory and the provinces had no claim on it. The report goes on to determine what Section 172 section 3 meant and mentions section 2 as well but on offhand and the burning question that the report missed as well is the absence of 'Land' in the Section 3 whereas it is mentioned in section 2 and this contradiction means that 'land' on territorial waters is not the authority of the province and if its not the authority of the province then it is the authority of Federal

 

[Kaptaan]

Political tussle would have followed irrespectively but the problem stems from legal flaws and frankly legislators not doing their jobs. These things are discussed in parliaments and amendments brought forth before it becomes an internal tussle.

It's a political issue my dear friend. The reason why they are not discussed is because there is not much that PPP and MQM can agree on other than corruption.

what I read about many indian muslims moving there. And thus they now have majority in the city/province.

Yes. So many Indian Muslims moved to Karachi that they gained demographic majority and became dominant in the city. This might not have mattered so much if they had subsumed or blended into the general Sindhi population but that did not happen. The migrants [Mohajirs] kept a studied distance from their host population. Over time it led to them forming around the Mohajir Quomi Movement [MQM] party which turned into a terrorist mafia party that murdered, burnt and extorted at will in the city.

This dynamic, bad as it is might not have mattered had Karachi been on the margins of Pakistan's geography. However one look at the countries geography shows everything is funnelled along the length of the country to the mouth of the Indus River and Karachi port is right next to it. In other words geography dictates that entire trade of the vast Indus basin and 200 million people of Pakistan is monopolized by this city.

In other words entire country is hostage to what happens in Karachi. The fundamental issue today facing Sindh and thus impacting all of Pakistan is that the province is entirely polarized along ethnic lines. Indian migrants clustered around MQM. Native Sindhi around PPP. The provinces politics are thus narrated by this factor. Result nothing gets done.

*Karachi was and is capital of Sindh province named after the ethnic people called Sindhi which is a ancient region going back to 8,000 years of history. Indeed it's name gave rise to the "India" which over time and particulary after British conquest became associated with the larger country you know today. This is analogous to how the name Asia Minor went from being Anatolia to the entire continent of Asia. The Bhutto dynasty are Sindhi's.

 

[Saiyan0321]

It's a political issue my dear friend. The reason why they are not discussed is because there is not much that PPP and MQM can agree on other than corruption.

Political issue would have been raised irrespectively considering the political situation of the country. The issue in contention is legal based used for political purposes.
Here is another thing. For the last few days, i have been searching left and right for any precedent on Island management that was passed by the courts post 2010 and found nothing which means the province did not challenge the authority of the federal on those islands. The islands were not ownerless blots of land on a map but under the actual ownership of the Karachi Port Qasim Authority which was created through a bill passed in 1974 i believe. This made the islands as federal territory under the port Qasim Authority and this continued all the way to 2010 and after the 18th amendment passed, the Province took no action to create an authority to take those islands back nor demand the federal to give those islands back. Why? Why was there silence on this if 172 was to be interpreted as such? The reason is because the mindset of the lawmaker where it did not add land in 172(3), Islands were federal territory and the lack of effort from the Sindh effort to take ownership of the Islands displays that the province was happy with Federal Administration until the Federal turned out to be PTI and the provincial government found itself marred in corruption and scandals.

Now coming to political aspects. The political situation in Pakistan has been brewing in 2018 when a new party came to power and the country which was heading towards a two-party system immediately found itself in a multi-party system where three parties could claim power in the center and i am not going to get into kingmakers here. The rise immediately created friction with the center which was very hostile to the two parties and the two parties found themselves marred in corruption, incompetence and scandals. The PPP has been able to secure their strongholds but its largely due to them facing no competition at all in their stronghold and they are well aware whether kingmaker or not, PTI will try to challenge them in Sindh as much as they can for political hold. We saw this repeatedly in the events leading to 2018 and in the 2018 election as well where PTI won seats in Karachi but PPP won nothing but humiliation outside Sindh. There are two things happening now. After such chains, PPP is slowly morphing into a nationalist party as it finds its survival in Sindhi Nationalism rather than on Pan-Pakistanism since they have nothing outside Sindh. Pakistaniyat will not serve them at all. For the last 5 years, we are seeing PPP become a very Sindh oriented party and by 2018, it is now a complete Nationalist Sindh party. Secondly they are well aware that post 18th amedment the provinces are autonomous and all that happens in the province is the responsibility of the province and not federal. So they cant blame the center for administrative incompetence or lack of care or treatment of a step child since the system has changed to make the province autonomous. I see something at fault in Punjab, i blame buzdar and as do many in Punjab. Infact all. The era of blaming the center is dying. PPP knows this and has thus utilized another form of blaming the center and that is by stating that the center is out to get the province no matter what. It wants to remove the autonomy, it wants to remove the government, it wants to remove the water, resources and everything and only united can we stand together. Through this they are able to scare away any attempts to divide the province as well when it is clear that Sindh also needs to be administratively divided along with other provinces. For God's Sake we have districts in Pakistan that are larger than some countries.

This is why i stated that political issue was irrespective because that was going to be raised no matter what because Sindh is being ruled by an incompetent nationalist party and screaming how our treatment is akin to Indian Kashmir and the center is modi. It turns the anger to the center and relieves the nationalist party and then we have the 'Democratic' movement which also needs to attack the center to survive and what better way than to say that the center is taking provinces land through dictator ordinances.


However if such is to be countered and the legal evolution of the country is to be grown and if the parliament no longer discussion laws and legal loopholes then perhaps we should hand the argument job to the courts. Have a panel of judges sit everymonth where they discuss a legal loophole, make a draft of the legislation and send it to the parliament to be passed. If the legislative is that incompetent then its follies can no longer tolerated.

Anyhow either way, i am becoming more sure on the authority of the federal than provincial over islands and PTI should really look into gaining political strength in Sindh. You blame Karachi and Muhajir alot but they are the key to breaching the Sindhi gates for PTI. They and the wadera saeen kingmakers

 

[Nurhak40]

Can someone tell me in short how they can demand this? Like wtf