LAHORE: The Lahore High Court has issued a stay order stopping the sale of more than 12 kanals at the 376-year-old tomb of a Mughal general in Baghbanpura.
Mahabat Khan was a prominent general in the Mughal army during the reigns of emperors Jahangir and Shah Jahan. His tomb was built in 1634 and stands near GT Road.
According to petitioner Dr Qari Ishfaqullah, head of the Pakistan Muslim League (Qasim Group), two “land grabbers” named Tanvir Kabir and Ahmed Munir had, with the help of Revenue Department officials, tampered with official records to claim the land as an inheritance.
They had managed to get 12 kanals and 17 marlas belonging to the monument site transferred to their names in the revenue record, and were now planning to sell the land, said the petitioner.
He said the people of the area had been protesting against the alleged land grabbers for six months, but government officials had paid no attention.
The government of Pakistan took control of the tomb in 1956 after declaring it a historical place under the Ancient Monuments Preservation Act, 1904. It was also included in the list of archaeological and historical monuments protected under the Antiquities Act, 1975.
Qari Ishfaqullah asked the court to stop the sale and direct the government to protect and preserve the historical site. Justice Umar Ata Bandial passed the stay order on Monday.
Published in The Express Tribune, August 10th, 2010.
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