The cost of progress: Allotted land by the British, kicked out by their own government
Amid protests, Sindh takes over 80,000 acres of people’s land to build its new Zulfiqarabad city.
KARACHI/THATTA:
Gul Mohammad Rano belongs to a village in Keti Bander taluka of Thatta district. About four centuries ago, his family used to rule over a large area. But now Rano is running from pillar to post to try to get his land back because the government decided to cancel his ownership of 200 acres of farmland to build a new city, Zulfiqarabad.
“We cannot help you,” Rano quoted an official as saying. “You people either have to evacuate this area or approach President Asif Ali Zardari.” Even Rano knows that approaching the president is not going to be an easy task.
If Rano were to meet the president, he would show him the 131-year-old original record of their land. The British gave them the papers in 1880.
Rano is not the only person displaced by this new city. A few days ago, the land utilisation department cancelled the possession of around 100,000 acres in Keti Bander, Kharo Chhan, Shah Bander and Jati talukas. “This is form No. 7, which means we have the right to own this land,” said Juman, alias Jumo Jat. “Instead the government cancelled 50 acres of my land.”
The landowners have protested, with the paperwork as proof, but the district administration argues that their documents are forged.For whatever it is worth, the Thatta DCO told The Express Tribune that anyone with original records will get their land back. Everyone else faces the axe under the Cancellation of Bogus Entry Ordinance. It doesn’t help that many records were burnt by mobs in the protests that erupted after Benazir Bhutto’s assassination. Now officials say that they can’t verify them. This makes it easier for anyone to come forward with bogus documents and just as easy for the government to say genuine ones are fake.
More than 400 settlements along the coastline might be affected by the development of Zulfiqarabad. The city is planned from Keti Bandar to Zero Point in Jati taluka, covering more than 0.3 million acres.
So far the government has declared it is taking over 17 creeks located along 232 kilometres of the coast. “Around 235,000 people living in 480 settlements will be displaced,” said Muhammad Ali Shah, who runs the Pakistan Fisherfolk Forum, a body that fights for the rights of these communities.
Some landowners have decided to go to court while others have chosen to protest in their areas. They may have some political sympathisers. Pakistan Peoples Party MPA Humera Alwani from Thatta, has been noting the changes. According to her, ownership of 30,000 acres out of 80,000 acres was cancelled from Keti Bunder taluka alone. In the past one year, the government has done the same thing with a total of around 200,000 acres.
Alwani claimed that she has seen the original land records allotted to the people from as far back as 1870, 1880 and even 1920.
According to her, neither were people served notice nor was a survey conducted to verify the records. The government suddenly decided to take over the land. “We appreciate our government’s decision to build new cities,” she said. “But it should not be at the cost of people’s land.”
There are four ministers in the Sindh government from Thatta. Alwani said that they will meet the president and request him to resolve the issue.
Ahmed Bux Shah, a landlord whose 150 acres were taken over in Chohar Jamali, threatened to commit suicide in front of the Sindh Assembly. “More than 100 landlords of our areas will gather and protest in front of the assembly during its upcoming session,” he warned.
For its part, the government is trying to highlight the good that Zulfiqarabad will do. Its economic zone will include ports, bus terminals, universities, schools, wind mills, expressways, industries and housing schemes. The government’s main argument was that the city would be built to help stem the migration of the rural population to urban areas, especially Karachi.
A spokesman for the chief minister plugged the project by arguing it is expected to generate thousands of jobs during and after it is built - investors are already approaching them. He also argued Zulfiqarabad would help the government use thousands of acres of barren land, a claim supported by Sindh revenue minister, Jam Mehtab Dahar, who said that most of the land that was taken over was barren. Big money has been allocated for the project, about one billion rupees, and if the original plan is followed it will take 15 years to create. But the question is whether the government will be able to move forward by leaving some people behind.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 30th, 2011.
Gul Mohammad Rano belongs to a village in Keti Bander taluka of Thatta district. About four centuries ago, his family used to rule over a large area. But now Rano is running from pillar to post to try to get his land back because the government decided to cancel his ownership of 200 acres of farmland to build a new city, Zulfiqarabad.
“We cannot help you,” Rano quoted an official as saying. “You people either have to evacuate this area or approach President Asif Ali Zardari.” Even Rano knows that approaching the president is not going to be an easy task.
If Rano were to meet the president, he would show him the 131-year-old original record of their land. The British gave them the papers in 1880.
Rano is not the only person displaced by this new city. A few days ago, the land utilisation department cancelled the possession of around 100,000 acres in Keti Bander, Kharo Chhan, Shah Bander and Jati talukas. “This is form No. 7, which means we have the right to own this land,” said Juman, alias Jumo Jat. “Instead the government cancelled 50 acres of my land.”
The landowners have protested, with the paperwork as proof, but the district administration argues that their documents are forged.For whatever it is worth, the Thatta DCO told The Express Tribune that anyone with original records will get their land back. Everyone else faces the axe under the Cancellation of Bogus Entry Ordinance. It doesn’t help that many records were burnt by mobs in the protests that erupted after Benazir Bhutto’s assassination. Now officials say that they can’t verify them. This makes it easier for anyone to come forward with bogus documents and just as easy for the government to say genuine ones are fake.
More than 400 settlements along the coastline might be affected by the development of Zulfiqarabad. The city is planned from Keti Bandar to Zero Point in Jati taluka, covering more than 0.3 million acres.
So far the government has declared it is taking over 17 creeks located along 232 kilometres of the coast. “Around 235,000 people living in 480 settlements will be displaced,” said Muhammad Ali Shah, who runs the Pakistan Fisherfolk Forum, a body that fights for the rights of these communities.
Some landowners have decided to go to court while others have chosen to protest in their areas. They may have some political sympathisers. Pakistan Peoples Party MPA Humera Alwani from Thatta, has been noting the changes. According to her, ownership of 30,000 acres out of 80,000 acres was cancelled from Keti Bunder taluka alone. In the past one year, the government has done the same thing with a total of around 200,000 acres.
Alwani claimed that she has seen the original land records allotted to the people from as far back as 1870, 1880 and even 1920.
According to her, neither were people served notice nor was a survey conducted to verify the records. The government suddenly decided to take over the land. “We appreciate our government’s decision to build new cities,” she said. “But it should not be at the cost of people’s land.”
There are four ministers in the Sindh government from Thatta. Alwani said that they will meet the president and request him to resolve the issue.
Ahmed Bux Shah, a landlord whose 150 acres were taken over in Chohar Jamali, threatened to commit suicide in front of the Sindh Assembly. “More than 100 landlords of our areas will gather and protest in front of the assembly during its upcoming session,” he warned.
For its part, the government is trying to highlight the good that Zulfiqarabad will do. Its economic zone will include ports, bus terminals, universities, schools, wind mills, expressways, industries and housing schemes. The government’s main argument was that the city would be built to help stem the migration of the rural population to urban areas, especially Karachi.
A spokesman for the chief minister plugged the project by arguing it is expected to generate thousands of jobs during and after it is built - investors are already approaching them. He also argued Zulfiqarabad would help the government use thousands of acres of barren land, a claim supported by Sindh revenue minister, Jam Mehtab Dahar, who said that most of the land that was taken over was barren. Big money has been allocated for the project, about one billion rupees, and if the original plan is followed it will take 15 years to create. But the question is whether the government will be able to move forward by leaving some people behind.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 30th, 2011.