Shahid Afridi Sports Complex

Akakhel tribe elders want land price paid to real owners

By Bureau report

PESHAWAR: The people belonging to Akakhel tribe on Tuesday staged a protest and asked the government to pay the price of the land, which was acquired for construction of Shahid Afridi Sports Complex in Khyber tribal district, to real owners instead of alleged land mafia and maliks.

They were carrying banners and placards inscribed with slogans against the local administration and the reports that the administration was planning to pay the land money to maliks and alleged land grabbers. They gathered at the Peshawar Press Club to record the protest. The elders including Muhammad Shafique Afridi, Mena Gul, Maaz Khan and Taj Muhammad were leading the protesters. The speakers said that the government had acquired the land belonging to Akakhel tribe in Bara tehsil of Khyber tribal district for construction of Shahid Afridi Sports Complex three years ago. They said that there were reports that the local administration had decided to pay the compensation money to maliks and some alleged land grabbers, which they termed an injustice.

The protesters said the land in question was the shared property of 10,000 families of Akakhel tribe and they should be paid the money to compensate them for their loss. They threatened to forcibly stop the ongoing development work on the sports complex and launch a protest campaign if the real owners were deprived of their right and money was paid to maliks and land grabbers.