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Going Private: Illegal land acquisition for cantonments in Swat
By Faizul Ameer and Umer Farooq
Sher Shah Khan, a landowner in Swat's Kabal district,resents the fact that army is setting up a garrison in his area on land that produces some of the best peaches, apricots and plums in the region. "We told them [the army] that this is our source of livelihood but they said there is no possibility of the government acceding to our demand of not building a garrisonin this area," he says. The army's decision to acquire 9,000 kanals of highly fertile land in Kuzabandai and Barabandai villages of the district is part of the official plan to set up four cantonments in Swat — one each in Barikot,Kabal, Khwazakhela and Matta. From a strategic point of view, the land acquisition in the two villages may be justifiable. Many of their inhabitants had joined the Taliban when they were in control here and may still be sympathetic to the militants. Unlike in other parts of lower Swat, the residents of Kuzabandai still live in fear of the Taliban.
For instance, on Sher Shah Khan's farmlands in the two villages, his destroyed house is surrounded on all four sides by armed guards.He himself is always accompanied by four guards armed with AK-47 rifleswherever he goes. "The security situation in this area remained uncertain even after the army concluded the military operation in Swat. When we came back in December 2009 the Taliban militants were still hiding in the fields and villages," he says.
For local landowners who have been asked to sacrifice their land, the military logic is hardly satisfactory. "I have told army authorities that first it was the Taliban who were destroying our agriculture and now youare taking away our land," Sher Shah Khan tells the Herald.
It was in the last week of June that a government delegation consisting of senior army officials and provincial government representatives held negotiations with local landowners here to convince them to sell their land for the garrison. According to Sher Afzal Khan, a local landowner and are tired captain who has fought in all three wars with India,there was complete consensus among the landowners to sell. "Establishing a military garrison in this area is a necessity because it was the local villagers who sided with the Taliban and now we need an army presence to ensure peace and stability in the area," he says.
But, contrary to his all is well account, the talks continued for two days and, despite the fact that the authorities offered high prices to landowners, there remained dissenting voices expressing their discontent over the way government was handling the situation. Sher Shah Khanand his extended family own 4,000 of the 9,000 kanals that are to be taken over and his description of the meeting says it all. "At the end of the talks wewere convinced that we have no option but to sell the land," he tells the Herald.
This discontent resonates in the voice of others who apparently have agreed to the government demands. "What else could we havedone?" asks Idrees Khan, a small landowner who will be selling 80 kanals forthe garrison. Few among the local landowners will lose all their land but a deep sense of discontent is quite visible among them, over the fact that some prime agriculture land will be taken from them.
Idrees Khan is at least satisfied that "they are giving us avery good price for our land." Authorities agreed to pay 400,000 rupees foreach kanal of agricultural land. In addition, according to Sher Afzal Khan,"the government agreed to pay a separate amount of money for each tree and tubewell on the land. For this the provincial agriculture department will conduct aseparate evaluation."
In Matta, once a bastion of Maulana Fazlullah-led militants,a total of 5,400 kanals of agricultural land and 4,200 kanals of arid andmountainous land will be acquired for the garrison. In meetings with the landacquisition teams, elders of Matta have demanded 500 rupees per square foot for the former and 75 rupees for the latter. "But we were told that 400,000 rupeesfor one kanal, about 73 rupees per square foot, had been allocated for agricultural land and 60,000 rupees for a kanal, or about 11 rupees per squarefoot, in a mountainous area."
Although the negotiating team also offered 4,000 rupees for each peach and apple plant, and 2,000 rupees for each Keekar tree, some of the landowners interviewed by the Herald say they had no other option but to make a humble request to the army officer to reconsider the decision. Unlike the landowners in Kabal, farmers here felt they were being compelled to sell their lands to the government at throwaway prices. "A few years back, I was offered 200 rupees per square foot for my land in Matta, which I turned down. Now I have to give the same land for a cantonment at 73 rupees per square foot," says a man in his mid-fifties, his features stamped with profound helplessness. "We don't need any compensation for our lands, we just want the government to give us land in other parts of Swat in return for the acquired land."
A known political figure of Matta, who wishes to remain anonymous, puts it this way: "Paying 73 rupees per square foot for fertile landin Swat is a joke being played on the Swati people. It is less than you pay fora square foot of an average quality carpet." He hastens to add that he does not oppose the cantonments "because we have seen the worst when the Taliban werecalling the shots." But he does think people should be given reasonable compensation in return for their lands.
There are some people however who are happy with the price being offered. Mahmood Khan, a former nazim of Matta's Khrayri union council,says the official rate as fixed by the Swat revenue department based on landsales is 138,000 rupees per kanal while the government has offered them 400,000rupees for a kanal. "If it was a forced decision, the land should have been purchased at the official rate which is much less than the offer," Mahmood Khan says, whose family will have to lose a huge chunk of land if the cantonment project materialises.
But another landowner in the same area points out the reason for the discrepancy between the official and market rates. Wanting not to benamed, he says land sales are often registered at much lower prices than the amount of money that actually changes hands so that the parties involved haveto pay lower fee for the registration and mutation of the property. The revenue department fixes the official rates on the basis of these deceptively lowprices. Comparing them with market prices, in order to justify the money being offered for the land being acquired, he feels, is not tenable.
But there is also a legal question involved: on how thestate should go about acquiring land for the garrisons. Legally speaking, there are two ways of acquiring land for public purposes: (a) through private negotiations and (b) through the Land Acquisition Act, 1894. Talking to the media in Barikot in Mingora, on July 9, an army colonel emphatically stated that the land for cantonments would be acquired through the local revenue department and under the Land Acquisition Act. In practice, though, the deals being negotiated with the farmers are not following the laid down procedures under the act.
Section 11-A of the Land Acquisition Act clearly states that there shall be no private negotiations for acquiring land except if the head of the department of the government or the ministry concerned of the federal government requests the district collector (now called district coordination officer) concerned, in writing, to acquire land through private negotiation.Sources in Swat's district administration confirm that the local revenue department did not receive any instructions, written or otherwise, from the central government on land acquisition, let alone on allowing private negotiations for the purpose.
Even if the acquisition is taking place on official orders,the law allows only civilian administration to acquire land for public purposes. But the ground realities tell a completely different story. It seems the army is involved in negotiations held to fix the rates of the land, which are legally the prerogative of the district collector and the civilianadministration under him. A visit to Swat's Matta tehsil and discussions with sources privy to the negotiations there reveal the level of the military'sinvolvement. In mid-June, local landowners tell the Herald, a meeting was held on the premises of a local college but with a military man, Matta's commanding officer. The next meeting, the landowners say, was held at the office ofMatta's assistant coordination officer and this meeting was also chaired by Matta's commanding officer.
To make the land acquisition in Swat look even more suspect,an official of the Military Landand Cantonments (MLC) says his department has so far issued no official ordersfor the acquisition of land in the district. In theory, at least, MLC isresponsible for procuring land and setting up garrisons. On whose orders island acquisition taking place remains highly mysterious.
Abdul Lateef Afridi, a Peshawar-based lawyer and formerpresident of the Peshawar High Court Bar Association, says that private negotiations deprive landowners of some legal courses they otherwise have."Being a signatory to the private deed they can't challenge it at any forum,"he says. On the other hand, he argues, the Land Acquisition Act provides more avenues for legal relief. "The landowners can't only file objection petitions before the collector but can also agitate the matter at the district court with appellate forums of high court and the Supreme Court available to them."
In addition, the cantonments will also have certain economic implications for the people of Swat. "Acquisition of land on such a large scalewill not only trigger mass migration to other districts but will also deprive a good number of people of their livelihoods," says one Swati landlord. Bearing in mind the destruction of Swat's economy over the last two years, he feels the people of the valley should have been offered good compensation to help alleviate some of their economic deprivation.
Major-General Athar Abbas, the Director-General of the Inter-Services Public Relations, confirms that four cantonments will be set up in Swat to house a brigade of the army, comprising 4,000 to 5,000 men. But he does not know about the exact locations proposed for these cantonments. He also does notconfirm or deny if the army is involved in private negotiations for land acquisition. But he does tell the Herald: "It's the job of the civilian administration."Last edited by Samandri; 12-04-2016, 08:53 AM. -
isn't cant in swat a breach of the agreement made between pakistan and princely swat state?
people were saying that Afzal lala khattak a high caliber ANP leader were at the front of government pushed committee who actively voiced support for the establishment of cant in swat, and that one of his son is a captain in paksitan armyComment
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