Ownership issues: Sindh govt yet to retrieve lost revenue records

Files had been burnt during protests across the province following Benazir’s killing.

KARACHI/ KAMBER SHAHDADKOT:

Despite the passage of over eight years, the land record of some districts of Sindh, destroyed during protests following the assassination of Benazir Bhutto, has yet to be completely restored.

The situation has led to several disputes on ownership rights. Cases regarding the sale and purchase of land and transfer of family land are piling up in courts as a result. Similarly, people who want to obtain a bank loan cannot avail the facility as revenue officials are unable to provide them the relevant land details.

Top government officials, however, claim that, on the orders of the Supreme Court, they have computerised and indexed almost all land revenue records of the province, but the ground realities show otherwise.

“A year ago, my father distributed his land among us. We are four brothers and sisters. I have been trying for the last ten months to get the land transferred, but every time the officials give a lame excuse,” said Ghulam Mohammad, a farmer from Deh Drib Mitho of Kamber taluka. He explained that his family has a copy of the land record as well as of the paid taxes, but revenue officials have turned a blind eye to their requests. “The entire record was destroyed during riots that erupted after Benazir Bhutto’s killing. It will take time to recover it,” he said, quoting the relevant officials.

Briefing about the procedure to retrieve the burnt record, a land revenue official in Kamber Shahdadkot said it will be restored by checking the landowner’s allotment copy. Later, officials have to verify it by conducting a survey of the areas and publishing news in the newspapers.

According to local journalists, a number of people have gone to court against revenue officials for allegedly tampering with their record and re-allotting their land.

Recently, the government transferred assistant deputy commissioner of Shahdadkot, Hanif Pitafi, for his alleged involvement in tampering the revenue record and re-allotting vast tracts of land.

Shamsuddin, a retired college principal in Kamber Shahdadkot, has gone to court over the ‘delaying tactics’ used by revenue officials. “I recently purchased ten acres of land, but the revenue officials are reluctant to provide me the land record,” he alleged, adding that, “Not only me, but lots of people suffer from the same problem.”

The provincial government recently announced that it had computerised nearly the entire land record of Sindh in compliance with the Supreme Court’s orders, he said, adding that details of his family’s land, however, cannot be found. “Every other day we search the government website (sindhzameen.gos.pk) to check whether our land record has been computerised, but all in vain,” he said.

Fida Bhatti, a local journalist, said “Since the revenue department officials are aware that the land record of Sindh is being computerised, the patwaris and mukhtiarkars have become more active in tampering with the record to appease those who grease their palms.”

According to Bhatti, only a part of the record was damaged in Shahdadkot town [during the 2007 protests], but officials either destroyed the remaining record or took it away with them for their vested interest.

Talking to The Express Tribune, Larkana commissioner Ghulam Akbar Leghari said they have finished over 90% of computerisation work and retrieved all the record burnt by mobs in 2007. “There is only an issue in Kamber and Mirokhan tehsil in Larkana Division, otherwise people can now check the land record instantly,” he said.

The record of revenue and forest land in Johi, Mehar and Khairpur Natanshah was also destroyed during the rioting. “Some issues have been resolved, but many people have come up with fake claims, which have complicated our work. Frankly, we don’t have a record; but we are trying to recover it,” said Dadu district commissioner Sardar Jamali.

In Dadu, clashes between Jatoi and Chandio tribes over ownership of 5,000 acres have left several people dead and many injured. Official sources told The Express Tribune that ownership disputes have also been reported from Thatta, Sujjawal and Mirpurkhas over land ownership claims.

Provincial revenue minister Makhdoom Jameeluz Zaman said almost all the land record was burned after Benazir Bhutto’s assassination on December 27,2007, but now his department is making immense efforts to revive it. “Not only have we restored the record, but we have computerised it too,” he said, adding that he would direct the relevant officials to look into areas where issues have not yet been resolved.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 9^th, 2016.