HYDERABAD, Sept 29: The Sindh High Court, Hyderabad circuit bench, has asked the secretary to the Sindh chief minister to expedite payment of compensation to one of the heirs of victims of Tando Bahawal tragedy.

The bench, comprising Justice Mohammad Moosa K. Leghari and Justice Abdul Rasheed Kalwar, passed the order on a petition filed by Ms Sahibzadee, widow of Dhani Bux Babar, requesting payment of compensation as decided in the case of Mai Jindo.

The court said that copy of the order should be sent to the secretary to the chief minister for expediting the matter after additional advocate-general placed on record a letter dated Sept 25, 2007, sent by DCO Hyderabad secretariat, addressed to AAG informing that the summary has been moved to the chief minister Sindh.

The officer concerned requested for grant of some more time. The court said that her case requires particular indulgence as her husband along with nine other innocent persons was brutally murdered by an army officer in a fake encounter in 1992.

Sahibzadee is appearing in person before the court and has cited member board of revenue land utilisation, DCO Hyderabad, EDO revenue Hyderabad, relief commission as respondents.

She said that she was living a peaceful life in village Tando Bahawal with her husband late Dhani Bux Babbar and her seven children aged six months to 10 years until 14 years back.

She said that suddenly in 1992 her life was shattered when an army major arrested her husband and nine others and gunned them down.

She said that the then prime minister Nawaz Sharif publicly declared that army had killed 10 agents of RAW while those killed along with her husband were innocent villagers who fell prey to greed of major as he wanted to occupy their land.

She said that realising great injustice done to villagers of Tando Bahawal and the fact that personnel of army were involved in it, government punished army team which had committed massacre of the villagers and their families were compensated in various ways.

She said that the government also tried to compensate petitioner by granting 24 acres of barren undeveloped agriculture land in Deh Dooheen, Tappa Hassani, taluka Jati, district Thatta. She said that land was undeveloped and barren and she had no means or manpower to develop and to cultivate it.

She informed that surrounded by hostile in-laws who had eyes on their land and her pucca house and her five daughters.

She was forced to leave the house of her husband and her cattle to live in misery and poverty in Dadu.

She said that because of her poverty and helplessness she couldn’t take care of her young daughter of 20 and had to endure extreme agony of seeing her daughter pass away because of T.B in Karachi’s government sanatorium.

She said that she lived in a rented house in Wahdat colony Kacchi Abadi for which she is paying Rs2000 rent which is half the income of whole family. She said that if any help was to be provided by government now the petitioner deserves such help the most.

She said that she and another heir Mai Jindo who was also allotted 72 acres of land of Tando Bahawal in the same Deh Dooheen, taluka Jati, district Thatta, had requested senior member Board of Revenue to grant alternate lands near Hyderabad but in vain.

She prayed the court to direct respondent revenue officials to decide compensation/grant of petitioner as early as possible as decided in the case of Mai Jindo.