ISLAMABAD: The Army has confirmed the allotment of 1,200 kanals of military land in Dera Ismail Khan to six civilians in 2004 by the General Headquarters on the recommendations of the then NWFP government.
Though the Army did not name the then government, it was obvious that the Army spokesman was referring to the MMA government in which the JUI-F of Maulana Fazlur Rehman was a major partner with his party man occupying the chief minister’s post.
Inter-Services Public Relations Director-General Maj-Gen Athar Abbas told The News on Tuesday that it was the then NWFP government, which had forwarded six names to the GHQ with the recommendation that they may be allotted the military land.
His official statement is in sharp contrast to the on-the-record claim by the then-chief minister Akram Khan Durrani of the JUI-F that it was the GHQ that had made the allotment. “I have nothing to do with it,” he had told The News when the story was first published. He had claimed that his government had no role in this allotment.
About the validity of this allotment, the ISPR director-general said under the Punjab Act 1912, a small portion of the military land was allotted to “civilian officials belonging to concerned departments, including the Revenue Department”.
But when asked if any of the six persons recommended by the MMA government of Akram Khan Durrani belonged to any of these “concerned departments”, Maj-Gen Athar Abbas said: “It is for the provincial government to explain if the names so recommended were really authorised civilian officials.”
Maj-Gen Abbas categorically said there was no provision in the law (Punjab Act of 1912) that provided for the allocation of military lands to any unauthorised civilian. He, however, did not offer any comment when asked if the present Army chief would cancel these controversial allotments of the military land.
As earlier reported by The News, during Gen Pervez Musharraf’s dictatorial rule, the GHQ had allotted 1,200 kanals of military land in D I Khan to close associates and relatives of the then opposition leader Maulana Fazlur Rehman and the then-NWFP chief minister Akram Durrani in October 2004, just two months before the end of the military regime’s agreement with the MMA that the general would doff his uniform by the end of the same year.
Both Maulana Fazlur Rehman and Akram Durrani had denied that they had anything to do with the said land. Durrani though had admitted that two of the allottees were his relatives. The Maulana never conceded that the military land was transferred in the name of any of his close associates.
However, The News reported that all those allotted the military land were closely associated with the Maulana and Akram Durrani. On Friday (Oct 3), two days before the story of 1,200 kanals of military land allotment to the JUI-F men was carried by this newspaper, the ISPR director-general was formally approached to confirm if Sharifullah, son of Rahmatullah, Abrar Ali Shah, son of Asghar Ali Shah, Abrar Ahmad Khan, son of Muhammad Ismail Khan, Muhammad Ashraf Ali Khan, son of Muhammad Shahzad Khan, Muhammad Ramzan, son of Faroze Khan, and Shahzada Khan, son of Alam Sher Khan, who were closely associated with Maulana and Durrani, were allotted military land in DI Khan.
Maj-Gen Athar Abbas was also asked if these persons were allotted the Army land in line with the military’s policy and strictly on merit. He was also asked if the Army chief had the discretion to get back such lands allotted to any individual other than the entitled persons.
The ISPR director-general was also asked if the then-Army chief Gen Musharraf had violated the policy while making this allotment in D I Khan.On Nov 1, the ISPR director-general was sent another question whether the present Army chief could cancel these controversial allotments.
Maj-Gen Athar Abbas, in his response on Tuesday, though not giving direct answers to the questions forwarded to him, categorically stated that there was no provision in the law that allowed allotment of the military land to any “unauthorised civilians”.
The authorised civilians, he explained, should be “civilian officials” from concerned departments, including the Revenue. However, those allotted the land on the MMA government’s recommendations included only one person — Muhammad Ashraf Ali Khan — who is said to be a schoolteacher. All the rest were civilians though according to the claim of Durrani, his uncle was allotted 200 kanals for being a retired soldier.
But the GHQ did not confirm Durrani’s claim and simply said all the six were allotted 200 kanals each on the recommendation of the then government. According to sources, even Ashraf Ali Khan does not fall in the category of the entitled civilian officials. These sources said generally the Revenue officials are allotted a small portion of military land as they facilitate transfer of the state land for military purposes.
