Daska braces for a nail-biter today

LAHORE: As a major chunk of the is 4,94,300 registered voters in National Assembly’s constituency, NA-75 Daska are expected to exercise their right of franchise in over 360 polling stations following Supreme Court’s decision for re-polling, a cliff-hanger is expected between PML-N’s Syeda Nausheen and the ruling PTI’s Ali Asjad Malhi.

This historic, yet backward, industrial city had caught the whole nation’s attention after the two major national political parties had got embroiled in a deadly electoral battle during the February 19, 2021 by-election here.

Although the local administration would be keeping a strict vigil over 155 ‘sensitive’ and 25 ‘highly sensitive’ polling stations, armed conflicts may still break out in this town, which has seen many clashes and fights before during the course of its eventful history.

History: According to archival records of the Government of Pakistan, the 1962 report of Pakistan Office of the Census Commissioner, the British-era 1883 Gazetteer of the Jhang District and eminent historian Sayed Muhammad Latif’s book “History of the Punjab from the remotest antiquity to the present time," Daska was founded during the reign of Moghul Emperor Shah Jahan (1592-1666). According to archived Mughal revenue records, it was originally named “Shah Jahanabad.”

Since the lands of the area were owned by the Das family, the city was given the name “Daska.” During Shah Jahan’s time, Daska was a cantonment area. During the British era, the fertile lands here were cultivated by local slaves, but the fruit of their labour used to go to the English treasury.

During the 1965 and 1971 Pak-India Wars, the residents of Daska had fought valiantly to safeguard their frontiers and many of them had embraced martyrdom in the process. The graveyard of martyrs at the Daska- Sambrial road, bears ample testimony to these sacrifices rendered.

Known today for manufacturing farm machinery, mainly for the nearby industrial hubs of Sialkot and Gujranwala, Daska’s residents hail from Mughal, Jatt, Kashmiri, Rajpoot, Arain and Malik tribes, casts, sects and clans.

Some historical accounts suggest the origins of Daska date back to the period of Alexander the Great of Macedonia, who was intercepted at Jhelum city by Raja Porus in 326 BC.