Tribesmen protest ‘occupation’ of land

LANDIKOTAL: The tribesmen belonging to Khugakhel tribe and daily wagers on Saturday staged a protest rally at the Torkham bazaar and chanted slogans against the National Logistics Cell (NLC) for occupying their land at the Torkham border with Afghanistan.

The protesters, led by Khugakhel elders Mirajuddin Shinwari and Zarqeeb Khan Shinwari, marched on the main road in Torkham bazaar holding placards and black flags in support of their demands. The protesters said they had signed an agreement with the NLC for selling land to enable the company to set up its offices and other compounds at Torkham, but the NLC officials gradually started encroaching and occupying their remaining land.

Talking to The News, protestor Mujeeb Khan said that they divided their ancestral property at Torkham into two parts. “In one part the property is well-defined and it was given to NLC for construction of dry port and offices. The second isn’t part of the agreement signed with NLC. Despite our verbal and written complaints to the NLC officials, they started grabbing our land that is outside the agreement,” he argued. Mujeeb appealed to the chief justice of Pakistan to take suo moto notice of the issue as the NLC intentionally wanted to create law and order situation in the border area.