Elders set up protest camp against occupation of lands in Lower Dir

TIMERGARA: Elders from the Usakhel tribe in Lower Dir Thursday set up a protest camp outside the deputy commissioner's office against the alleged grabbing of their lands by their rivals in Shatai Darra in violation of the stay orders of the Supreme Court of Pakistan.

Speaking on the occasion, the elders, including Malik Ali Bakht, Malik Aslam Parvez, Malik Farooq Iqbal, Malik Bakhtawar Jan, Malik Shaahidar Khan, Malik Ajmal Shah, Malik Ahmadyar Khan, Malik Matiullah and others said the tenants in Shatai Darra were busy encroaching on their land in a clear violation of a stay order of the apex court. They alleged that their rivals encroached on the land in connivance with the Tehsildar Abdul Mannan in absence of Lower Dir Deputy Commissioner Sarmad Saleem Akram who was on leave. They announced that their protest camp would continue till the acceptance of their demands. "We brought the excavator, through which the excavation was carried out, to the office of the deputy commissioner by force, which carried out the illegal excavation on the disputed land at Shatai Darra for over 13 hours but the authorities were yet to initiate any legal action against violators," said one of the elders.

The elders added that when they visited the office of the tehsildar to stop encroachment on the disputed land, he misbehaved with elders of the tribe. They demanded the district administration to hand over their land to them, which had already been decided by the Supreme Court.