NAROWAL: The district administration of Sialkot has retrieved a pond and land adjacent to the historical Gurdwara Babey Di Beri on the Zafarwal Road after 77 years.

The land was occupied by the influential Hijra family since the Partition. A joint operation was conducted against the occupiers by the district administration, municipal committee, revenue department and the police.

The influential family had built a cattle pen and shops on the land while a political party had built its office and the local people had also constructed some houses on the land of the Sikh community, according to Additional Deputy Commissioner Revenue Muhammad Iqbal. The special team demolished the shops, political party office, cattle pen set up on the land.

The district administration has ended the illegal occupation of eight kanal and 18 marla land of the pond belonging to the Sikh community, said the district administration spokesperson Syed Waqar Javed. He told Dawn that Maharaja Ranjit Singh had constructed the current building of the gurdwara and the pond. He said that after the partition of India in 1947, the pond was closed and later local people occupied its land.

Muhammad Iqbal said the land retrieved from the mafia would be handed over to the Auqaf Department. He said strict legal action would be taken against the employees of the Auqaf Department found involved in the illegal occupation.

The Sikh community thanked the district administration for handing over the land to them.

Published in Dawn, July 13th, 2024