Perween
Rahman an Icon, a symbol of resistance, patron of people living in city’s
suburbs, was shot dead nearly a year ago on 13th March 2013 while she was on her way back from her office located in
Orangi town, a remote area of Karachi. At the time of her brutal killing, she
was working as director of Orangi Pilot Project
Like
many people of this country, I also heard the news about her killing carelessly
and pay no heed to the fact that what a great asset she was and her unfortunate
killing is an irreparable loss not only for the people of Orangi town but for
all the down trodden people living in the length & breadth of Pakistan.
Few
weeks ago while sitting among group of friends the discussion about Orangi pilot
project come up which infused in me the interest to know more about the serene personality of Parween Rahman
I
was curious to know more about this iconic person and my desired is fulfilled through
a lecture organized at The Second Floor titled: Celebrating Perween Rahman: A Symbol of Resistance. The aim of this lecture was to unveil some of the
hidden elements of Perween’s personality.
Zubeida Mustafa, an
eminent journalist, Zohra Yusuf, Chairman Human Rights Commission
of Pakistan, Tasneem Siddiqui, founder of Saiban and Aquila Ismail, enlighten about the
various aspects of Perween’s personality.
Mr. Tasneem Siddiqui while paying tribute to Perween said that
she was a visionary person with a very unique thought process. Her personalities
have many different dimensions and it is difficult to highlight all those
attributes in limited time
After completing her degree as an Architect engineer, she started
working with country’s well known architect Arif Hassan but she possesses an inborn
desire to do something for the nation and its downtrodden people. Perween’s
famous quote in early days of her career was ‘Will throughout my life, I design
houses for rich people only’ was an indication of her burning desire to contribute
for the betterment of society’s informal sector.
Considering her desire
to work for the betterment of people, Mr. Arif Hassan introduced her to Dr.
Akhter Hameed Khan, founder of Orangi Pilot Project (OPP)
Although she joined OPP as a common member but
because of her talent, vision and leadership qualities, she went on to become
director of OPP.
Perween laid the foundation of underground
sewerage system in Orangi. A project that begins with one house initially was
later spread to ten thousand houses. The sanitation policy of government of
Pakistan was prepared on this model and it was Perween and her team who were
instrumental in developing this policy.
Perween believed that people are willing to
accept new methodologies if they are provided proper information in this
regard.
Perween think that it is a grave injustice
that people of Pakistan are deprived of health, education, food and water and she
fought against this injustice valiantly throughout her life
Zohra Yusuf, Chairman, HRCP said that me & my team
frequently interact with Perween to discuss about city’s situation. Perween
fought against land mafia and many other mafias. Zohra highlighted that how at
different level women of Pakistan are trying to resist the oppressive forces.
She concluded that our society has hit a new low with the killing of Perween.
Zubeida Mustafa while expressing her views said that
Perween’s killing is an act of injustice for the whole society. She likes to
remain low key but possess lot of knowledge about city. Perween was an ardent
supporter of education and in this segment her work is expanded well beyond
Orangi right to the flood hit areas of Sindh.
Perween was instrumental in introducing the concept
of home schools in flood hit areas of Sindh in 2010. She has all the qualities
of a good teacher and a motivator. Her real resistance was making an effort to
change the society so that it can resist on its own.
Introduction of women saving groups was another
revolutionary initiative which was purely the brain child of Perween. At the
moment more than 20 women saving groups are operating in Orangi town.
Chanda a resident of Orangi and a member
of one of the saving group said that Perween was a humble person who mingle up
easily with the members of low income segments of society.
Anwar Rashid, who become director of OPP after
Perween’s demise quoted that she was very distress with the existing living
condition in Sindh’s villages and in a dejected tone informed us that compare
to Sindh, Orangi town is a heaven.
Perween’s efforts were instrumental in setting up 32
schools in flood hit areas of Sindh province.
Perween spend time and resources in building
capacity of local people and she wants locals to work on their own and become
independent. Perween was such a gentle person that
she never used the word poor for the down trodden people but always call them
low income similarly she used the word informal sector for slumps.
It is so disheartening that although one year passed
but no headway is made in the investigation of her killing and heartless
murderers of nation’s daughter are still free.
Aquila Ismail informed that investigations in
Perween’s killings are reopened as her killing was a preplanned act of
brutality.
Perween frequently received threats from anti social
elements but her only answer to them was ‘I am not going anywhere till I am
alive and only death can separate me from my people’ The iconic lady made her
quote a truth and exposed the injustice prevailing in our society.
Although OPP is still playing role for the
betterment of society but it is nearly impossible for the organization to fill
the void left by Perween’s untimely death.
“The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty
of their dreams.” This quote of Anna Eleanor Roosevelt is an ideal description
of Perween Rahman’s personality.
Perween’s first death anniversary went by quietly.
Our hyper media failed to remember this great lady who gave her life for this
nation.
I salute Perween Rehman! The daughter
of nation.
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