Were Empress Market shops legal?

Oonib Azam reports on the 50-year tenants of the market



This story begins in the days when Ayub Khan was in power. He had a passion for urban planning and a deep dislike for katchi abadis or informality. It was on his watch that a new law called the West Pakistan Municipal Committees (Property) Rules of 1962 was passed, and was ultimately used to herd street-cart sellers from around Karachi into the area around Empress Market.

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