Farmers say they are not willing to sell their arable land at such low prices. PHOTO: FILE
Around 2,000 farmers, along with activists of Jamaat-e-Islami, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz protested in Akora Khattak on Wednesday against Section 4 being imposed on their land in Nowshera district.
Led by social activist Inayatur Rahman, the farmers gathered at Kernal Sher Khan Interchange near the Peshawar-Islamabad Motorway. They chanted slogans against the government and Sarhad Development Authority (SDA) officials for occupying their land for housing and other developmental schemes in the area. The farmers also protested against Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Pervez Khattak, claiming they elected him from their district but he has turned a deaf ear to their woes.
The cultivators said they would not sell their lands to the government for the low amounts offered.
Addressing the protesters, Rahman said they had made multiple requests to the provincial and federal governments to not to take their arable lands which are their only source of income.
Sarhad Development Authority Director Noroz Khan with heavy contingents of police visited their lands in an attempt to take possession, claimed the activist. However, Rahman reiterated, landowners will not let them make any such move based on prices settled by the government.
Rahman said they protested in front of Peshawar Press Club on November 29, where they were assured no one would try to take over their land if they ended their protest. Despite such promises, SDA officials and the police tried to evacuate them, and imposed Section 4, he lamented.
However, officials have not taken possession of any land as yet.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 5th, 2013.
COMMENTS
Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.
For more information, please see our Comments FAQ