MUZAFFARABAD: The parliamentary leader of Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) in the Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) Legislative Assembly, Mohammad Tahir Khokhar, has asked Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Establishment Division Secretary Abdul Rauf Chaudhry to recall AJK’s Finance Secretary Yousuf Khan who he said is “creating hatred between Kashmiris and Pakistanis”.

Mr Khokhar, who holds the portfolios of transport and cooperatives ministries, made the demand in separate letters after differences on a host of issues emerged between him and Mr Khan.

The federal government posted five officers in the AJK who are commonly referred to as ‘lent officers’ and finance secretary is one of them.

Mr Khan is also an administrative secretary of the cooperatives department, the department additionally allotted to Mr Khokhar on March 28. 

The latest clash between the two came after Mr Khokhar rented out a two-kanal plot of almost dysfunctional Cooperatives Bank (AJKCB) to a Lahore-based transport company.

The plot located along the Bank Road housed a “shack” serving as the AJKCB head-office while the bank further rented out the remaining space to 11 different vendors against the monthly charge of Rs17,000.

However, Mr Khokhar on assuming the charge of the department got the plot vacated and rented it out to the Lahore-based Niazi Express against a monthly rent of Rs60,000.

Conversely, according to the June 15 agreement inked between the AJKCB and the company, the latter was to build terminals and allied facilities on its own and the former authorised to get the plot vacated on a three-month notice.

Mr Khokhar claimed to have made alternate accommodation arrangement for the AJKBC employees.

An association of local traders challenged the agreement in the high court and took a stay order stalling temporarily the construction of terminals. Moreover, the company resumed construction after getting the stay order vacated on July 26.

Mr Khokhar alleged Mr Khan of visiting the site on Wednesday and inciting some AJKCB employees to disrupt the construction process.

“Accused employees and some of their companions roughed up the labourers at the behest of Mr Khan, and when I along with police personnel reached there at about 2pm, they did not open the main gate and used abusive language and threatened to kill me,” he alleged.

The same evening, Mr Khan got the agreement revoked.

Mr Khokhar on Thursday got an FIR registered at the City Police Station against the finance secretary, three AJKCB employees and around a dozen unidentified people.

The minister also gave a 72-hour notice to the AJK government to take action against Mr Khan, “or else he would take up the issue with his party”.

Dawn made several calls to SHO Raja Akhtar Hussain but to no avail.

Meanwhile, Chief Secretary Khizar Hayat Gondal appointed Naeem Shiraz, Senior Member, Board of Revenue, to probe the incident.

Talking to Dawn, Mr Khokhar said some influential people were conspiring to stall the hiring because of their own interests, plus they were averse to introduction of decent public transport in the capital.

“Letting out this land to any local would mean washing off our hands from it for good, because influential people are famous for occupying official land in connivance with government servants,” he said.

Published in Dawn, August 23rd, 2014