Parveen Rehman: a fighter for the poor silenced
Social Worker Parveen Rehman who was gunned down near her office on 13th March, 2013.
KARACHI: A media-shy social worker who devoted her life to the development of the impoverished neighbourhoods across the country, was gunned down near her office in Orangi Town on Wednesday. She was 56.
Parveen Rehman was born in Dhaka in 1957. She did part of her schooling in the former East Pakistan and migrated to Karachi after the fall of Dhaka.
She received a bachelor’s of engineering in architecture from Karachi’s Dawood College of Engineering and Technology in 1981 and joined a private architect’s firm.
A few months later, she left the job and joined the Orangi Pilot Project initiated by Akhtar Hameed Khan to bring healthy changes to the lives of impoverished residents of Orangi.
“The late Akhtar persuaded her to join the OPP. We both joined the OPP in 1982 and since then we worked in close association,” said Anwer Rashid, co-director of the OPP-RTI (Orangi Pilot Project-Research and Training Institute).
Mr Rashid choked on words as he described his working relationship with Ms Rehman.
Noted town planner Arif Hasan, who is member of the OPP’s board, briefly visited Ms Rehman’s home and left early as he was deeply distressed like dozens of her friends and colleagues who had gathered at her house in Safari Boulevard in Gulistan-i-Jauhar.
“She was a courageous and brave lady. She was a true pupil of Akhtar Hameed Khan who worked in an environment where most people will avoid to work,” said Mr Rashid.
Soon after the private TV networks flashed news of her death, a large number of people flocked to the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital, where her body had been shifted.
Eyewitnesses said those who gathered in the hospital and outside her home, where she was living alone with her octogenarian mother, included dozens of residents of Orangi who were mourning her death.
“She was a great help for us. She was just like an elder sister to whom we would go whenever a problem struck us,” said a middle-aged man who identified himself as Azmat Ali.
Arif Pervez, development professional and a friend of hers, said Ms Rehman had been receiving death threats for a long time, apparently from the mafia involved in grabbing precious land on the fringes of the city.
“She had been receiving threats on her life for a long time. We had discussed this several times but every time I advised her to take care of herself, she smiled, waved her hand and said what will they do, I have to work a lot and that too in the middle of the people,” Mr Pervez said.
Ms Rehman was an ardent compiler of the record of precious lands, which were on the fringes of the city in shape of villages but were speedily vanishing into its vastness because of ever-increasing demand by thousands of families who were shifting to Karachi every year from across the country.
She said on record that around 1,500 goths (villages) had been merged into the city since 15 years. Land-grabbers subdivided them into plots and earned billions by their sale.
“She documented everything about the lands that have been grabbed. Another sin of her was to help those whose lands had been grabbed. Yet, she never hesitated to go to the area where her life was constantly under threat,” Mr Pervez said.
“Many people certainly have lost their elder sister,” he said.
Noman Ahmed of NED University said Ms Rehman’s great achievement was to get involved and empower communities in development work.
“She involved communities in development work and her cautious endeavour was to empower people and lessen their sense of deprivation. Her motto was way forward. She saw it as a defeat to terrorists by not changing her routine to help people,” Mr Ahmed said.
Besides her mother, Ms Rehman is survived by her two brothers and a sister, living abroad.
It is very tragic, not we have lost a Good Human being but a great Asset of the Social Sector, So the Karachi’s civil Society may do something for the protection of each and every Human asset of this city but it does not seem possible because the Karachi’s enemies have divided the Karachi people to a certain extremes only to pave the way of their plunder the lands, blackmail the business community.
So this engineered unrest is a conspiracy that is laid out by those who want to get most of this , they want to gather extortion , lands and votes on the gun point and let the people to be divided .
We understand that politics is for the people but what is going on in Karachi that is not politics because people are not safe , and the peace of Karachi is snatched , the beauty of Karachi that used to be some decade earlier that is now a dream can not be seen.
To run a city like Karachi, for this its people may count themselves the dweller of this city first then the may count them other ethnic communities so the city peace can be restored back otherwise the division of the people would go on.
Those who want to create this gap wider is now in power but those who want the peace of Karachi is either not interested or the courage is not their and they understand themselves that their ethnic label is the best shield for them but actually they are turning a blind eye to the issue.
Another courageous female who has shown courage in standing up for justice and decency against vicious men with guns. Her life was unfairly snatched, her good work halted, this is a cruel blow to Pakistan, to us, to decency.
How long will we keep giving in to murderous criminal gangs? Should we wait till the numbers of decent people dwindle so low that resistance becomes futile?
These are the real “Shaheeds” of our society. A very sad day for Karachi.
WHY????
Because Evil cannot flourish in the presence of good people like Parveen Rehman. She threatened Darkness by her light.
What a shame. Pakistan needs people like this woman. It is a lesser nation without her.
Where is all the social media , where all the people ,
Every news paper is silent , because killer name not sound like politician or landlord .
Our common people only want to give justice to politician or landlord but not there own kind
It happens only in Pakistan..kill all those who bring peace and glory to us. May this so called nation wake up soon.
No possibility!!
If the people of Karachi do not come out and demand justice for her murder then they do not deserve selfless people like her. There are times when GOOD people need to take a stand against evil doers. This is one of those times.
A little bright light that had been illuminating the darkness that Pakistan has become has been snuffed out. May Allah have pity on that wretched nation.
Miss Parveen Rehman was one of the best teachers I had. hard working, modest and sincere. RIP
Nisar mein teri galyion ke aye watan ke jahan
chali hai rasm keh koi na sar utha kay chalay
jo koi chahnay wala tawaf ko niklay
nazar chura kay chalay, jism-o-jaan bacha kay chalay
hai ahl-e-dil kay liye ab yeh nazm-e-bast-o-kushaad
ke sang-e-wakhast muqayyad hain aur sag azaad
FAIZ
May God rest her soul in peacce and the culprits must be hanged in public.
Eye for an eye makes the whole world blind.
What a great, gentle soul she was – PARVEEEN REHMAN. She is sitting with Allah who is listening to her and praising her. He has set aside a magnificent palace of peace for her in Zannat (Heaven).
One more loving heart, a great human and a sane voice snuffed out in a jungle called Pakistan.
I wonder where her murderers would end up when their days on earth are up?
My feeling of sadness at the great loss, and injustice. My feeling of sadness also that we the people have to take the blame for electing this government that has brought Paksitan to this state. The only way to get out of this is to use the vote next time wisely. If the top 2 parties have been tried no less than 2 times each, 3 in the current one, and each time the result has been exactly the same then why do we keep electing them? Why?
The problem is more fundamental, pakistan has no basis to exist.
Because we are a nation of fools!!!
May God accept her in the highest heavens. Ameen
Rest in peace, the brave one.
Afsos sad afsos. These terrorists are bent upon making a (Khakistan) of our Pakistan. I agree she was one of the most courageous ladies and does deserve Nishan-Haider type of recognition even if she was not Army woman. She needs more cover than was for Malala (not reducing Malal’s point).
She was braver than the entire Army, which every few years conquers its own country.
Sad that she was gunned down, but don’t agree with your crass comment about the military at this stage. The military has been silent for 5 years and what do we have in return? This! We were better off 5 years ago.
That is a fantastic comment on the army!! How true that the army has been conquering our own people but losing with our neightbour 3 out of 3 times!! And to top it, we also kill our women. Shame of a country!!!
and what has been achieved when they were or are vocal. Lost the place and the people who gave their lives for independence and she also hailed from the same place.
This is extremely sad. The family faced many hardships after the fall of Dhaka and came to Karachi destitue after having lost everything in East Pakistan. She dedicated herself to improving the lives of the poor in the footsteps of the great Dr. Akhtar Hamid Khan. She should be honoured with a Nishan e Haider for her bravery and courage. What a loss for our country!
The death of Parveen Rehman reminds us of what someone said when Gandhiji was assassinated: “How dangerous it is to be good”. Parveen and her colleagues at Orangi have been a beacon to many of us working on issues of water and sanitation and on the rights of the poor and marginalized. How many times have I and others quoted or recalled the work of Parveen and her colleagues in our own efforts to fight ignorance and neglect. For Pakistan, she was a national treasure. For many of us in India and throughout this region, Parveen was no less a treasure, a mentor, an inspiration and a role model difficult indeed to match. She died fighting for justice, and her struggle must now be ours, wherever we are and however huge the odds may be that are stacked up against decency and justice in our lands. Ashoke Chatterjee (Ahmedabad, India)
RIP. Shame on us.
only in islamic country a women can be killed with such impunity
A lot many good people are losing their life due to terrorism and mafia, there is no gender war here.
It is true that she was killed with impunity. As a Muslim Canadian-Pakistani I am ashamed. However, I must say that she was working amongst the poor people of Karachi up to now. It is really not the Muslims as such but the criminals of land Mafia who killed her!