PESHAWAR, May 22: Residents of University Town held a protest gathering here on Tuesday against, what they called, illegal occupation of the only public park and sports area of the town and appealed to the chief minister and chief justice of Peshawar High Court to intervene in the matter.

The residents, mostly women, came out on the streets to protest against the construction of restaurants on the town’s public park and sports area.  Members of Ladies Club – a women’s body which used to run the affairs of this public park having tennis and squash courts and walking track for women – was spearheading the protest.

They held a peaceful protest in front of the restaurant and café, which they said were ‘the result of unlawful occupation of the public land and park of the University Town’. This was the second such protest in a month.

“We are going to move the Peshawar High Court for justice,” said Dr Humaira Gilani, a resident of the town.

Mrs Bashir Durrani, president of the club, said that this was the only public park in the University Town, which had been snatched away.

“We want this public land and park to remain open for recreational and sports activities,” she said.

Members of the club said that in 1952 when the University Town was planned, all residents were asked to pay for the land on Park Road so it be used for meetings, recreational activities, funerals, charity events and later for various sports activities. Since 1976 the Ladies Club was meeting here and sports activities were regularly held. In 1999, the club made a walking track and boundary wall for safety purposes. The club members claimed that of 27.22 acres (217.6 kanals) marked for parks in the University Town, only 30 kanals were now left and the rest of the land was illegally occupied over the years by various government departments and influential individuals.

The residents, who have submitted a written appeal to the chief minister, said that on December 12, 2009, the government had sanctioned for the remaining 30 kanals of public land to be granted to Ms Faiz Rasool and Mr Tariq Nawaz for 33 years on lease for building a swimming pool, snack bar, tuck shop and a restaurant. These private parties would also take over administration of the existing sport facilities, they said.

The residents have mentioned in their appeal to the chief minister that the tuck shop was changed unilaterally by the lease holders to restaurants named ‘Coffee Pot’ and Diwan-i-Khas.

“We are the original owners of this common land, but we were not consulted when this agreement was made,” said the residents.

When asked about their delayed response to the occupation of park, a senior member of the Ladies Club recalled that when their delegation met a minister of the present ANP-led government in 2009 to complain about the ‘land occupation’ the minister told the ladies to take a walk in his house instead of the Town club. “The ladies felt insulted and never went with a complaint to any minister since then,” she said.

The residents said that earlier a case was filed in Peshawar High Court and Chief Justice Dost Mohammad Khan had ordered a stay. They said that later the individual who had filed the case was threatened and he withdrew it.

They said that women were being harassed as water and electricity had been disconnected to the club, which was located close to the restaurants.

During their protest, the residents raised slogans against land-grabbers and said that tennis courts had been destroyed during construction of restaurants. They have appealed to the government and the court to remove both the restaurants and restore the tennis courts.