Illegal occupation: Unable to retrieve land from Khans, family seeks help from President, PM

SWAT:

For Zaitoon Bano and her family, there seems to be no end to their plight.

Residing in Shin, a remote village in Khwaza Khela in Swat Valley, the family depended on their ancestral land for a livelihood.

Bano’s family is living in acute misery after the landlords deprived them of their only source of income.

“The landlords (Khans) snatched our land from us. We inherited this land from our forefathers and have the complete record of ownership,” said Bano, while talking to The Express Tribune.

Bano blamed the police and local administration for siding with the Khans. “They don’t seem to register our complaints. The SHO has even warned my father against messing up with them [Khans],” she said. She claimed the landlords were constantly threatening her family.

Even though the land, approximately 74 kanals, is ready for cultivation, Bano’s family has been unable to benefit from it this year.

With tears rolling down her cheeks, she said, “They have uprooted hundreds of plants and they beat my father and brothers whenever they go the fields.” She also revealed that her family is not the only one which is being victimised by the influential party.

“The other victims have been silenced through force. However, I will keep fighting for our rights even though I belong to the weaker sex,” she said with determination.

She appealed to the president, prime minister, the Chief Justice of Pakistan and the provincial chief minister to help her retrieve her family’s property from the Khans.

When DCO Kamran Rehman was contacted for comments, he said he had ordered an inquiry and gave the assurance that he would provide justice to the dejected family.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 14^th, 2012.