PESHAWR: The elders of three tribes of Hangu districts have threatened to launch a protest movement if government fails to vacate ‘their’ land from their opponent tribe.

Addressing a press conference here on Monday, the elders of Khwedadkhel, Darsmand and Tall accused Khujalkhel tribe of illegally occupying their land in Paloseen area. They urged the government to help them to get possession of their land within 40 days otherwise they would launch a protest movement.

The elders said that a piece of land measuring thousands of kanals was property of the three tribes but it had been in the possession of Khujalkhel tribe for the last five decades. The dispute had also claimed several lives, they added.

“We have time and again requested the local administration of Frontier Region of lower Kurram but to no avail,” said Malik Ahmed Bangash, a tribal elder.

He said that on one hand Khujalkhel tribe occupied the land illegally and on the other its members were targeting with rockets the villages belonging to the three tribes and killing innocent people. The successive governments never bothered to resolve the decades-old dispute to bring peace in the area, the elder said.

Ask govt to vacate their land in Paloseen area from Khujalkhels

Flanked by Malik Jamil Khan, Mohammad Ayub and Khyal Khan, Mr Bangash said that several FIRs were registered against the members of Khujalkhel tribe but the law enforcers avoided arresting them.

“The land of Paloseen belongs to our tribes but even the administration is hand in glove with the ‘illegal’ occupants and approved power supply to them,” the elder said and added that the real owners of the land would not let anyone to supply electricity to area without taking them into confidence.

Mr Bangash said that if government could remove encroachers in other parts of the country then it should also retrieve the grabbed land from the illegal occupants to avoid armed clashes in future.

The elder also urged the government to compensate the families, who had suffered due to unprovoked rocket attacks and armed clashes in the area.

“We request the government to take the issue seriously and retrieve the land from the grabbers within 40 days, otherwise our people are ready to block the main roads in protest and take steps for vacating the land at all costs,” said Mr Bangash.

Published in Dawn, August 11th, 2015

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