Jirga to settle 800-acre land dispute held in Nawabshah

SUKKUR: A jirga was held in Nawabshah on Sunday to resolve an 800-acre land dispute between the members of Bhand and Mallah communities and Zardaris.

Reports said Mir Manzoor Hussain Panhwar led the jirga, which comprised SUP’s Syed Zain Shah, Riaz Chandio, PPP leader Ismail Dahari, Mian Khan Rind, Ali Salim Zardari and Hassan Bhand.

Manzoor Panhwar, at his Circuit House, heard the arguments of both parties’ members, including Abid Zardari, Hassan Bhand and others and directed to form a three-member committee to verify the documents of land to find out the genuine ownership of the controversial 800-acre land situated at Deh Banbhani of Taluka Kazi Ahmed in district Nawabshah. He said that he would announce the decision after the verification of documents of land within 15 days, while till that, the Mukhtiarkar Kazi Ahmed will look after the controversial land, bounding the claimants not to get involved in any kind of brawl in this period. The disputing parties agreed to the terms of the jirga.

It is pertinent to mention that hundreds of people of Bhand and Mallah communities, along with their women, staged a sit in at the National Highway near Qazi Ahmed in district Nawabshah for three days to protest against the occupation of their 800 acres land by Abid Zardari and his men. They were also joined by Syed Zain Shah, Riaz Chandio and Roshan Burioro. The protesters ended their three-day sit-in after successful talks with the administration. The members of Bhand and Mallah communities claimed that the land belonged to them as it was cultivated by them from the time of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and that they possessed all the documents of the land, while Abid Zardari said that Bhand and Mallah community members illegally occupied his 800 acres land, claiming that he had all the original documents of the land.