Around 18 years ago, Roshan Ara along with 20 others, including former army officials, bought plots near Army House in Rawalpindi’s Garrison area, however before they could begin constructing their homes, security concerns put a stop to their plans.
Ara, 70, purchased the land in 1998 when the Punjab government auctioned 20 kanals of government land for Rs 1.5 million in an open auction.
At the time of auction, the buyers had not realised the trouble they were signing up for.
Although Roshan Ara and the others have full ownership of their plots, they cannot construct houses there because Garrison authorities are not ready to allow ‘outsiders’ in the vicinity of the sensitive area.
Two others – Naik Bibi and Brig (r) Abdul Rab passed away before they could build their home, while the remaining landowners have been running from pillar to post seeking justice.
In 2006, the plot owners moved the court against the Garrison authorities and succeeded in getting a favourable verdict.
They had moved the Lahore High Court (LHC) in 2006, naming Punjab Housing and Physical Planning (owner department of the land) Ministry of Defence, Station Commander, Rawalpindi Cantonment Board (RCB) and Deputy Commissioner Rawalpindi as respondents.
Then LHC judge Nasim Sikander gave a judgment in the petitioners’ favour on January 27, 2006.
His judgment, a copy of which is available with Pakistan Today, says: “All respondents in the petition shall facilitate the petitioners in enjoyment of their ownership and possession rights and not to interfere directly or indirectly in construction and use of these plots.”
He added: “In case of interference from any of the respondents, the concerned Station House Officer (SHO) shall be obliged to assist the petitioners according to law and register a criminal case against the intruder.”
But so far, the verdict is yet to be implemented and the affected people are still being stopped from constructing houses on their land.
No progress has been made despite the party filing a contempt petition against the respondents. The court once more instructed the departments concerned to allow the owners to construct their houses.
However, once they began construction they hit another roadblock.
“They told us that Army House’s security was more important than our property. They neither offer us the market rate for the plots, nor offer us alternative plots,” Roshan Ara told this scribe.
The elderly woman regretted that despite the favourable verdict in support of the plot owners, the military authorities were denying their rights. She demanded that Army Chief General Raheel Sharif step in and give them their due rights.
Ikramul Haq, another affected person, said he recently conveyed the group’s grievances to the Punjab chief minister, but to no avail.
“Our delegation told the chief minister that the area is not sensitive as residences of retired army officials, civil servants, judicial complex and Gulistan Colony exist in the same vicinity,” Haq said.
“This blatant denial of rights is a staggering violation of our fundamental rights and defiance of a court verdict. The buyers have bought the plots from the Punjab government and they have been given possessions. Nobody can stop them from constructing their houses,” he said.
Another allottee said that ‘unknown’ people bulldozed the basement of his house when it was under construction and when he complained to the police and cantonment officials, a group of people from the nearby garrison complex forced the police to flee the area.
It is worth mentioning that Punjab Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif had constituted a committee in 2010 to resolve the issue under the supervision of Chief Secretary Nasir Khosa with Secretary Finance Tariq Bajwa, Secretary Housing Irfan Ali and Secretary Planning and Development (P&D) Javed Aslam as its members.
The committee suggested that if military authorities viewed the owners as security threats then they should buy the plots on the prices prevailing in the market. However, no such offer has ever been made by cantonment authorities.
“We are all set to stage a protest or observe a hunger strike. But we would prefer that top military commanders intervene and grant us our legal and fundamental rights,” Roshan Ara said.
Chaklala Cantonment Officer Rana Khalil, who is also one of the respondents, could not be reached for comments on the issue.