Ahmad Shah Abdali’s heir lays claim to land

Great-grandson accuses Punjab govt of taking over family land

LAHORE: A self-proclaimed family member of famed Afghan emperor Ahmad Shah Abdali has taken the Punjab government to court over illegal occupation of his family land near Lahore.

Abdali (1722-1772), whose real name was Ahmad Shah Durrani, was the founder of the Durrani Empire and is regarded as the founder of the modern state of Afghanistan. He was chosen as the king of Afghanistan in 1747 and within a few years extended his control from Khorasan in the west to Kashmir and North India in the east.

Durrani’s famous victory over the Marathas influenced the history of the subcontinent, in particular, the British policymaking in the region after the battle of Panipat.

Shah Pur Durrani, a great-grandson of Abdali whose real name was Ahmad Shah Durrani, has petitioned the Lahore High Court against the Punjab authorities for cancelling lease of a piece of land allotted to his family by the British government.

In his writ petition, the plaintiff claims the English rulers gave the land to his predecessors in reward for their services for the British government.

After Partition, he stated, the federal government continued with the lease of the land near Burki, Lahore given to the Durrani family. Recently, however, the provincial government took over 182 acres of land near Barki to construct an IT university and cancelled the original lease of the owners.

The petitioner’s family has claimed ownership of 12 acres of the land occupied by the Punjab government and requested the court to order the government restore the lease of the land to his family.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 30^th, 2016.