Latifabad

Latifabad لطيف آباد
Town
Country	Pakistan
Province	Sindh
City	Hyderabad
Population
• Total	1.5 million (2,012)

Latifabad (Sindhi: لطيف آباد‎ ,Urdu: لطِيف آباد‎), is a town in the southern suburbs of the city of Hyderabad, in Sindh, Pakistan.

History

Latifabad is named after the noted Sindhi Sufi poet, Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai., its initial denizens were Sindhi but after communal riots in 1980s between Sindhi speaking and Urdu speaking people;^[1] it was populated as an extension to the city of Hyderabad to settle hundreds of thousands of Muslim refugees from India fleeing from anti-Muslim pograms, along with the town of Qasimabad.

The locals that settled the town at its inception were ethnically of a mixed population but as the city experienced its worst ethnic riots between Sindhis and Muhajirs in the 1980s, the city was divided into Sindhi settling the town of Qasimabad and the Mohajirs settling down in Latifabad.

Serving an ethnic majority of the Muhajir community, the Muttahida Qaumi Movement to grow. The land in Latifabad was further divided into sectors, sub-classifying it into numbered units. For political rallies, MQM would specify areas in their sector notation rather than the numbered unit. To this date, the classification continues yet people prefer using the numbered units.

Settlement

Latifabad has a large concentration of Urdu speaking people which are about 70% of the 1.5 million population. Latifabad is divided into twelve units, instead of blocks, each numbered. Each unit has its own hospital and number of schools along with residential complexes.

Healthcare and educational services

The largest mental asylum or hospital for the mentally ill in Pakistan (some people deem it the largest in Asia) named after Sir Cowasji Jehangir Readymoney (1812–1878), civil engineer and master constructor of Bombay, the Jehangir Institute of Psychiatry holds ground in Latifabad unit 3, commonly known to the locals as Giddu Bandar.

Other hospitals in Latifabad include the St. Elizabeth's Hospital, Majee Hospital, Bhittai Hospital and Red Crescent (Hilal-e-Ahmar) Hospital.

The Board of Intermediate Secondary Education, Hyderabad, the body of the Government administering the educational standards in the city has their headquarters housed in unit 9 in Latifabad. Public School Hyderabad founded in 1961 one of the most famous schools in sindh is located in Latifabad unit 3

Other notable places

• Unit 8 has a bazaar-shopping center called Siddiqui Centre that sells clothes, shoes and bangles, product native to the city. Visitors and shoppers alike visit unit 8 before Eid to buy clothes and gifts. Units in Latifabad has its own administrative unit which works under the Hyderabad District Administration.^[2]
• Mohatta House is situated in Latifabad U6D in the vicinity of the district nazim's house. It is over 100 years old
• Unit 6 also is the home to the Hyderabad Board of Education, who have built a stadium to commemorate its presence. Most of the inter-school and -collegiate tournaments are played.there is one very big pharmacy Zeeshan Medical Store in Unit No. 5, Latifabad Hyderabad in front of Shah Abdul Bhitai Hospital. Mostly Play Grounds of Hyderabad district are situated in Latifabad like Mehboob Ground in Unit no. 5, Afzaal Ground in Unit no. 10 and Unit No. 11, Latifabad Hyderabad in front of naeem hospital. Government Boys Degree College and Ghazali College and Mostly Play Ground of Unit No 11 others.

See also

• Ilyasabad

References

Coordinates: 34°02′N 71°35′E / 34.033°N 71.583°E / 34.033; 71.583