Tribe seeks ban on sale, purchase of shared land

TIMERGARA: The people of Mastkhel tribe on Tuesday asked for imposing a ban on the sale and purchase of shared land and handing over its control to the tribe.

Speaking at a press conference in Timergara Press Club, elders of Tarkalani Jandool, a sub-clan of Mastkhel tribe, including Asfandyar Mastkhel, Muhammad Abid Mastkhel and others claimed that 6,000 acres of land in Jandool was the shared property of the tribe.

They alleged that Nawabzada Shahabuddin Khan, the son of Nawab of Dir Shah Jehan Khan, has occupied the land and evicted the people of Mastkhel tribe from the forefathers land. They claimed that Late Shah Jehan Khan had himself admitted time and again in meetings with various jirgas and reconciliatory commissions that the disputed land was the property of Mastkhel tribe.

They alleged that later during his house arrest in 1960, Shah Jehan in his statement to the then government had claimed that the shared land was his property. They said the Lahore High Court (LHC) had also decided the case about the ownership of the land in favour of Shahabuddin Khan.