Perween Rahman (22 January 1957 – 13 March 2013) was a Pakistani

social activist Activism consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in social, political, economic or environmental reform with the desire to make Social change, changes in society toward a perceived common good. Forms of activism range from ...

, director of the

Orangi Pilot Project The 'Orangi Pilot Project'' (; abbreviated OPP) collectively designates three Pakistani non-governmental organisations working together, having emerged from a socially innovative project carried out in 1980s in the squatter areas of Orangi, Kara ...

Research and Training Institute. She was murdered on 13 March 2013.BBC News – Pakistan mourns murdered aid worker Parveen Rahman
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Biography

Perween Rahman was born on 22 January 1957, in

Dhaka Dhaka ( or ; , ), List of renamed places in Bangladesh, formerly known as Dacca, is the capital city, capital and list of cities and towns in Bangladesh, largest city of Bangladesh. It is one of the list of largest cities, largest and list o ...

, then situated in

East Pakistan East Pakistan was the eastern province of Pakistan between 1955 and 1971, restructured and renamed from the province of East Bengal and covering the territory of the modern country of Bangladesh. Its land borders were with India and Burma, wit ...

(now Bangladesh). She belonged to a Bihari family which moved to Karachi following the

Bangladesh Liberation War The Bangladesh Liberation War (, ), also known as the Bangladesh War of Independence, was an War, armed conflict sparked by the rise of the Bengali nationalism, Bengali nationalist and self-determination movement in East Pakistan, which res ...

in 1971. She obtained a Bachelor of Architecture degree in 1982 from the Dawood College of Engineering and Technology,CV as Board member of Saiban, submitted to Homeless International and a postgraduate diploma in housing, building and urban planning in 1986 from the

Institute of Housing Studies The Institute for Housing and Urban Development Studies (IHS) is an international institute on urban management and housing at the Erasmus University Rotterdam, based in the Netherlands. IHS was founded in 1958 and has more than 60 years of history ...

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. She worked at a private architecture firm before being recruited by

Akhter Hameed Khan Akhter Hameed Khan (, pronounced ; 15 July 1914 – 9 October 1999) was a Pakistani-Bangladeshi development practitioner and social scientist. He promoted participatory rural development in West Pakistan, East Pakistan and other developing count ...

to become joint director of the

in 1983, where she managed the housing and sanitation programs.IIED, Lessons from Karachi 2008 http://pubs.iied.org/pdfs/10560IIED.pdf In 1988, OPP was split into four organizations, and Perween Rahman became director of Orangi Pilot Project – Research and Training Institute (OPP-RTI), managing programs in education, youth training, water supply, and secure housing. In 1989, she founded the NGO Urban Resource Centre in Karachi and was also part of the board of Saiban, another NGO dedicated to low-income housing, and Orangi Charitable Trust (OPP-OCT), the

microfinance Microfinance consists of financial services targeting individuals and small businesses (SMEs) who lack access to conventional banking and related services. Microfinance includes microcredit, the provision of small loans to poor clients; saving ...

branch of OPP. She taught at the

University of Karachi The University of Karachi (; informally Karachi University, KU, or UoK) is a public research university located in Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan. Established in June 1951 by an act of Parliament and as a successor to the University of Sindh (which is ...

, NED University,

Indus Valley School of Art and Architecture Indus Valley School of Art and Architecture () () is a not-for-profit degree awarding institution in Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan. The university was established in 1989, thereby empowering it to award its own degrees and was the fourth private ins ...

and Dawood College of Engineering and Technology, all located in Karachi. She is the sister of author and teacher Ahtsham Ali Memon

Murder and investigation

On 13 March 2013, Perween Rahman was killed when four gunmen opened fire on her vehicle near Pirabad Police Station, ending her 28-year-long career for land and basic services rights for Pakistan's poor. Rahman had been an outspoken critic of the land mafias in Karachi and their political patrons. Rahman had complained in the past that she had received death threats. At one point, some armed men stormed her offices and ordered her staff to leave. The prime suspect in the murder of Rahman was arrested during a joint operation conducted by Karachi and Mansehra police in

Mansehra Mansehra (Urdu, ) is a city in the Hazara Division of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, Pakistan. By population, it is the List of largest cities in Pakistan, 71st largest city in the country and the List of cities in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa by population, ...

, Pakistan. The suspect Ahmed Khan alias Pappu Kashmiri was arrested in Mansehra. The very next day, police killed a Taliban operative named Qari Bilal in an encounter and claimed he was the murderer, resulting in a closure of the case. On 15 April 2014, the

Supreme Court of Pakistan The Supreme Court of Pakistan (; ''Adālat-e-Uzma Pākistān'') is the apex court in the Judiciary of Pakistan, judicial hierarchy of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. Established in accordance witPart VIIof the Constitution of Pakistan, it h ...

ordered authorities to conduct a fresh probe into Rahman's murder after a judicial inquiry revealed that police officers had manipulated the investigation. In December 2021, four men were sentenced to life in prison for Rahman's murder. Three of the men convicted received a sentence of fifty-seven years and six months. While Raheem Swati and his son Imran were sentenced to fifty years and seven-and-a-half years respectively.

In popular culture

Rahman's work and assassination were portrayed in ''Into Dust'' (2021).

Honours and awards

* Honorary lifetime membership of the International Water Academy based in

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. * 1986

Jaycees The United States Junior Chamber, also known as the Jaycees, JCs or JCI USA, is a leadership training service organization and civic organization for people between the ages of 18 and 40. It is a branch of Junior Chamber International (JCI). A ...

Award for community work * 1994 National Building Research Institute award for Housing * 1996

UN-Habitat The United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) is the United Nations programme for human settlements and sustainable urban development. It was established in 1977 as an outcome of the first United Nations Conference on Human Settleme ...

Best Practice (with OPP-RTI) * 1997 Faiz Foundation Award for community research * 2001

Rotary Club Rotary International is one of the largest Service club, service organizations in the world. The self-declared mission of Rotary, as stated on its website, is to "provide service to others, promote integrity, and advance world understanding, go ...

Award for vocational services. * 2001 World Habitat Awards winner (with OPP-RTI). * 2013 Sitara–i–Shujaat (Order of Bravery, Posthumous) conferred by the

President of Pakistan The president of Pakistan () is the head of state of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. The president is the nominal head of the executive and the supreme commander of the Pakistan Armed Forces.

on 23 March 2013 * 2022

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celebrated the 65th birthday of Rehman with a

doodle A doodle is a drawing made while a person's attention is otherwise occupied. Doodles are simple drawings that can have concrete representational meaning or may just be composed of random and abstract art, abstract lines or shapes, generally w ...

Publications

* Rahman, P., & Rashid, A. (1992). Working With Community: Some Principles and Methods. * Perween Rahman (2004). Katchi Abadis of Karachi: A survey of 334 Katchi Abadis. * Perween Rahman, 2009, Water Supply in Karachi, OPP-RTI. * Pervaiz, Perween Rahman & Arif Hasan (2008). Lessons from Karachi: The role of demonstration, documentation, mapping and relationship building in advocacy for improved urban sanitation and water services (Vol. 6). Earthprint.

References

External links

Pakistani Advocate For The Poor Slain By Gunmen on National Public Radio (NPR-USA) website

Perween Rahman Video Interview on Vimeo website

Parveen Rahman Obituary on International Institute for Environment and Development (iied) website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rahman, Perween 1957 births 2013 deaths Muhajir people People from Dhaka Architects from Karachi Development specialists 21st-century Pakistani architects 21st-century Pakistani women artists Pakistani women architects Pakistani architecture writers Pakistani people of Bihari descent Pakistani urban planners Pakistani cooperative organizers Pakistani murder victims Pakistani women activists Pakistani social workers People murdered in Karachi Deaths by firearm in Sindh Targeted killings in Pakistan Assassinated Pakistani activists Environmental killings Violence against women in Pakistan 20th-century Pakistani architects