0
PESHAWAR, March 17: People living in the localities of Charsadda where the government plans to build a university have refused to surrender their agricultural land for the purpose and suggested it instead to look for barren land for the project.
Elders of Najeemabad and Zareenabad areas in Charsadda tehsil told a press conference at the Peshawar Press Club on Thursday that the university was “need of the hour” for their people but expressed “deep concern” over the government selecting their land for it.“Our land is very fertile and known for the best quality of sweet beets, wheat, sugarcane, maize and all kind of vegetables, which are not only supplied to local bazaars, but also to markets of other cities, including Rawalpindi and Islamabad,” they said. If the government went ahead with its plan, the elders, including Major (retired) Azam Jan, Mian Zahir Shah, Nadir Khan advocate, Mian Amir Shah, Naeem Khan and Haji Jamshid, feared some 2,000 families of the area would be displaced.
The landowners welcomed the government's decision to establish a university in Charsadda and said that such a valuable educational institution was need of the hour, but this project should not be executed at the cost of people's livelihoods.
They claimed that the selected land was located in one of the most fertile areas of the district and with construction of the university the people would be deprived of their precious livelihoods.
“We will not allow this project on our fertile land and for this we are ready for any sacrifice,” the growers announced.
They said that the residents of the area had no other source of income and if the land was forcefully snatched from them they would be unable to continue education of their children.
Mr Nadir said that they were well-settled and did not want to depend on others like the internally displaced persons. “We are self-employed and hope the government will not deprive us from our fertile agricultural land,” he said.
He said that the area people had contacted various offices, Awami National Party leaders and also gave applications to Chief Minister Ameer Haider Khan Hoti and local MPA Abdul Shakoor, but their response was still awaited.
The growers demanded of the government to withdraw the decision of constructing the university on the farmlands and see for an alternative site for the project in barren areas of the district.
