ISLAMABAD: Pakistani real estate tycoon Malik Riaz warned Tuesday that his vast property enterprise, Bahria Town Limited, is nearing a complete shutdown.
He attributed this dire situation to an escalating government crackdown, widely believed to stem from his alleged association with the imprisoned former Prime Minister Imran Khan.
As one of Pakistan’s richest and most powerful business figures, best known as the head of Bahria Town Limited, Riaz has publicly complained for months about being targeted for “political motives.”
In a post on social media platform X on Tuesday, Riaz claimed that authorities had frozen Bahria Town’s bank accounts, confiscated vehicles, and detained dozens of employees. He added that these actions have “paralyzed” company operations and brought all projects to a standstill.
He added: “The situation has reached a point where we are being forced to completely shut down all Bahria Town activities across Pakistan.”
Before encountering these legal and financial challenges, Riaz was widely regarded as among the most powerful individuals in Pakistan. His real estate empire and political clout made him virtually untouchable.
His influence extended across political, military, and media circles, strengthening Bahria Town’s dominance in the country’s property sector.
Riaz cultivated close connections with senior political figures and high-ranking establishment officials, which often facilitated the expansion of his ventures by enabling Bahria Town to evict local communities with impunity. These evictions were typically orchestrated under state-driven “anti-encroachment” campaigns — conducted via colonial-era laws — yet carried out in coordination with Bahria Town. Such operations frequently targeted marginalized low-income groups without meaningful legal protections, compensation, or resettlement support.
Physical intimidation, legal coercion, and institutional impunity permitted construction to proceed while victims endured long-term displacement and impoverishment.
Even when heavy fines were imposed, the underlying forced-displacement patterns persisted.
In December 2019, Khan‑era Advisor Shahzad Akbar presented a sealed “non‑disclosure agreement” to the federal cabinet regarding a £190 million settlement between the UK’s National Crime Agency (NCA) and developer Malik Riaz. Cabinet ministers were not shown the document and were told opening it would breach national security protocols.
The NCA had frozen Riaz’s assets and recovered £190 million, due to be returned to Pakistan. However, the deal arranged —through Akbar — funneled the money back to Riaz to pay off his liabilities to the Supreme Court, enabling Bahria Town to avoid default.
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) ministers, including Shireen Mazari, Pervez Khattak, Zubaida Jalal, testified in court that they had no access to the details, and were assured verbally that funds were from NCA to benefit Pakistan—not to Riaz personally.
Shortly after the transaction, the Al‑Qadir Trust was launched by Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi (among others), supposedly for charitable education projects. But accusations followed: PTI critics claim the trust was created only after the funds were transferred, to serve as a front for kickbacks from Bahria Town.
The reference alleges that 458 kanals of land valued at around Rs 530 million were donated to the trust, and an additional 240 kanals transferred to Farah Shahzadi, a close associate of Bibi.
NAB claims Imran’s cut amounted to roughly Rs 5 billion through this arrangement.
Last year, a report from Human Rights Watch described how authorities in Pakistan — often in coordination with private developers like Bahria Town — executed mass evictions of low-income communities under the guise of “anti‑encroachment” drives. Residents in Karachi, Lahore, and Islamabad were removed without notice, consultation, compensation, or resettlement support, which is a direct violation of international human rights standards. Many lost both homes and livelihoods in the process.
In 2021, eyewitness accounts and social‑media testimonies from Sindh relayed stories of families stripped of ancestral land by Bahria Town, forced to flee with virtually nothing, and deprived of acceptable means to rebuild their lives.
Honest police officials or judges who tried to pursue accountability were reportedly sidelined or transferred. Bahria Town’s influence over bureaucrats, politicians, and the media helped sustain its projects despite repeated Supreme Court rulings annulling the land transfers.
The writer is an Assistant Editor at Dissent Today, focusing on extremism and political violence.
