SWABI: The authorities have issued notice to the residents of Hund village to vacate the area within one month as it is an archaeological site.

However, the local people have threatened to resist their eviction by Directorate of Archaeology and Museums Khyber Pakhtunkhwa for excavation purpose.

An official of Hund Museum said that they delivered the notice to the people on December 2. “We have given one month notice to them and within the given period they should take steps to meet the demand of the government,” he added.

Villagers to hold jirga on Sunday to devise strategy for resisting plan of archaeology directorate

The local people said that it was a serious matter for them and they were surprised to see the notice issued to them by the curator of Hund Museum on the directives of archaeology directorate.

According to experts, Hund is one of the rich archaeological sites in the province.

The actual name of Hund is Udabhandapura and Alexander the Great came here in 327BC. He crossed the River Indus at Hund when one of his generals prepared a boat bridge, enabling him to cross the mighty river along with 30,000 soldiers and 4,000 horses.

They said that it had also remained capital of Hindu Shahi dynasty and a business centre. Excavation had carried out in different times in Hund by the archaeology directorate and due to its importance a museum was established there, they said, adding that government wanted to develop the site as a tourist attraction.

They said that Hund Museum was spread over 33 kanals of land. A monument of Alexander had also been constructed there, they added.

Sources said that about 1,200 houses had been constructed by people in the village because they claimed that the land belonged to their ancestors. Now all these families have received notice to vacant the area within one month.

Fawad Khan, the head of Hund Museum, when contacted, said that they delivered the notice to the local people. He alleged that the local people affected their conservation drive on various occasions.

He said that it was not yet known as to what action would be taken by the directorate if the people refused to vacate their houses. It was also not clear as to what would be the fate of the people, who had lived there for centuries.

However, the locals said that they had convened a jirga on Sunday to devise a strategy to foil the directorate’s plan. “I assure you no one would vacate the house,” said one of the local leaders.

Zahid Khan, a local government representative from Hund, said that government would never be allowed to vacate the area because their ancestors had owned the land for centuries.

“We know about our ancestors and land. The conspiracy hatched against the Hund people would be foiled,” he said. He claimed that Razi Khan and Ali Haidar, two residents of the area, died of cardiac arrest after receiving the notice.

The villagers said that government should either give up the plan or face the wrath of the people.

Sources said that it was a complicated issue and government should handle it with great care.

Published in Dawn, December 8th, 2017