CHITRAL: Giving a new turn to Link Darbar controversy raging for the last one week, the residents of Danin Lasht held a press conference on Thursday declaring that the land agreement made with the heirs of Ghulam Jillani for the restaurant site was legally invalid.

The representatives of Danin Lasht including Munawar Ahmed, Shakirullah, Imran Khan, Sher Haider, Sabir Khan, Shakir Ahmed, Karimullah, Fatahur Rehman, Sarfaraz Shah and Noor Azizullah said that the acquired property rightfully belonged to the local community.

They emphasised that Peshawar High Court had already decided the land ownership dispute in their favour and the property was officially registered in the name of Danin Lasht residents in the recent land settlement records.

They claimed that the heirs of Ghulam Jillani entered into a flawed agreement with the Link Darbar owners under a deliberate conspiracy. They demanded that any financial losses incurred by the restaurant owners should be financially compensated by Jillani’s heirs rather than the community.

The speakers expressed strong reservations over the ongoing narrative surrounding the dispute on digital platforms and stated that the incident was presented wrongly on Facebook and other social media platforms, which was contrary to ground realities.

Issuing a stern warning to local administration and stakeholders, the community leaders declared that if Link Darbar premises were handed back to its previous owners, the people of Danin Lasht would be forced to launch a protest and block main roads.

They advised the restaurant owners to avoid returning to the disputed site and to look for an alternative location for their business instead.

VIRTUAL COURT POINT: The district and sessions judge of Lower Chitral, Shahnaz Hameed Khattak, formally inaugurated ‘Virtual Court Point’ in Drosh.

Speaking on the occasion, she said that through the state-of-the-art facility, the people in Chitral, lawyers and local courts were connected with Darul Qaza and the principal seat of Peshawar High Court.

She said that it would permanently relieve residents and lawyers of Chitral from long, arduous and difficult travel to Peshawar, Swat or circuit bench for hearing of cases.

Published in Dawn, June 26th, 2026