JUI men hold on to another big chunk of land
JUI men hold on to another big chunk of land
Friday, November 07, 2008
Operation to recover property today
By Ansar Abbasi
ISLAMABAD: Maulana Fazlur Rehman and his close associates were allotted another 6,000 kanals of agricultural land in 2006 but when in 2007 the authority of the Musharraf regime was challenged, the allotment was cancelled. Now, the NWFP authorities will carry out a massive operation to get possession of the land on Friday.
“A shock and awe operation is being launched on Friday morning by the provincial police, Revenue and Agriculture departments to regain the possession of 6,049 kanals of the Agriculture Department land in DI Khan from the men closely associated with Maulana Fazlur Rehman, who got this land on lease but never returned it despite the cancellation of the lease,” a senior official said on Thursday.
The earlier reported case of 1,200 kanals of military land, said to be in possession of Maulana Fazlur Rehman and former chief minister Akram Khan Durrani, is different as this land belonged to the Army and was formally transferred to six men closely associated with these top JUI-F leaders.
The joint operation on Friday will try to recover the land given on lease for a period of 10 years for just Rs 200 per kanal per year. The personal staff of Maulana Fazlur Rehman and his brother Maulana Lutfur Rehman, their relations and party men and cousins of former chief minister Akram Durrani, have kept this land in their possession despite the cancellation order after they obtained a stay order from a lower civil court.
The stay order was vacated on Oct 28, 2008 and now after a meeting between the officials of Agriculture, police and Revenue Departments, a decision has been taken to launch an operation on Friday to get back the possession of the land. Secrecy is being maintained to ensure that the other party does not get another stay order from the Sessions Court in DI Khan.
District Agriculture Officer, DI Khan, Ahsanullah Khan Gandapur, when contacted, confirmed that the government agencies were on the move to get the precious land back from its illegal occupants. He said he wanted to get the possession soon after the vacation of the stay order but it was delayed because of some wavering by the Revenue officials of DI Khan. He hoped all would go well on Friday morning.
Documents reveal that in violation of the lease policy approved by the NWFP government in December 2001, a total of 6,049 kanals of land, mostly possessed by the Agriculture Department and used for seed farms in four different Mouzas, Ratta Kulachi, Rakh Zandani, Khutti and Rakh Mahra Prova, was given on lease to 11 men in mid-2006 on Rs 200 per kanal per year.
Those given the said land on lease included Sharifullah, son of Rehmatullah, who is the PA to Lutfur Rehman and was also allotted 200 kanals of military land, Haji Obaidullah, son of Haji Rahmatullah, reportedly brother of Sharifullah, Muhammad Altaf, son of Obaidullah, reportedly a nephew of Sharifullah, Muhammad Ashraf, son of Shahzad Khan, PA to Lutfur Rehman, Adnan Khan, cousin of former chief minister Akram Durrani and son of Shahzada Khan, who had been allotted 200 kanals of military land under possession of Durrani, Haq Nawaz, a JUI-F supporter and father of reader Tehsildar Dera, Alamgir, son of Raza Khan, a JUI-F activist, Haji Mian Khan, son of Haji Sultan Muhammad, reportedly from Loralai, Balochistan, and also associated with Maulana, Haji Shahazai, son of Haji Sultan Muhammad and brother of Haji Mian Khan, and Samiullah, son of Haji Fazal Dad.
When the leasing was under process, there was considerable opposition from within the bureaucracy but nothing stopped the land from being leased out to favourites on throwaway prices. A deputy secretary of the Board of Revenue also wrote a letter to the district officer (Revenue), DI Khan, directing him not to transfer the area and possession but these instructions were ignored.
Because of the bureaucracy’s continued opposition to this controversial leasing to some non-locals in violation of the lease policy and on throwaway prices, the secretary, Board of Revenue, NWFP, finally issued a cancellation order of the lease.
The operative part of the letter reads: “I am directed to inform that lease of the land to the following persons vide communication noted against each are hereby cancelled on the recommendation of the committee on the ground that the land in question was utilised by the Agriculture Department for their seed farms which is still required by them for the said purpose.”
The said cancellation order was issued on July 4, 2007 when the JUI-F government was in power in the NWFP. However, despite the said order, the land remained in possession of the controversial lessees, who got a stay from a civil court against the cancellation order, which was finally vacated on Oct 28, 2008.
While the issue was taken up in the provincial assembly, the NAB NWFP (chapter) also initiated a probe into the matter. However, it is not clear if the NAB would take this inquiry to its logical conclusion or would leave it halfway.