LAHORE: A prominent agriculturist of the area, Sahibzada Khizer Hassan, has provided about 200 underprivileged families with 3 marlas of land each and registered it free of cost in their names for residential purposes in his ancestral village Mangheran of Chishtian tehsil in Bahawalnagar district.
Talking to Pakistan Today, Khizer Hassan explained his rationale for doing so as a conscientious effort to rid his ancestral village, and the people, of the remnants and residue of feudalism enshrined in the roots of rural expanses, which poses the biggest threat to the electoral freedoms of the masses. It also hinders the right of the people to impartial and meritocratic voting, he said.
He also believed that this malady was the very reason the rural areas had been unable to develop and evolve.
It is pertinent to mention that Khizer Hassan has distributed the land without holding any public office or post of any kind and also without any remuneration. Previously, he provided the Punjab government with free lands for the only middle school for girls and the only high school for boys in the area.
He also donated land for the only government hospital in the village. Apart from that, he has also provided the youth of his village with a cricket ground and other facilities to promote sporting activity and encourage talent.
Khizer Hassan is the nephew and son in law of ex-MNA Sahibzada Noor Hassan and son of the ex-additional registrar of Lahore High Court (Bahawalpur Bench) Sahibzada Abdul Ghani.