PESHAWAR: As tension persists between some landowners and members of Essakhel tribe over possession of a vast stretch of disputed land in Kafoor Dheri area here, former deputy speaker of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly Mahmood Khan has requested the Peshawar High Court for early hearing ofhis petition related to theissue.

Mahmood Khan and three other landowners in a joint petition have accused a leading land developer and builder and members of the Essakhel tribe of creating unrest in the area so as to usurp the said land. Armed clashes frequently take place in the area involving use of heavy weaponry.

The former deputy speaker, who is a leader of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI), has submitted an application in the high court stating that the petition filed by him and three others was pending adju-dication before the court and now June 21 was fixed as the next date of hearing.

He stated that wheat harvesting season was on-going and almost 10,000 metric tonnes of crop awaited to be cut.

However, he stated that due to bleak law and order situation and continuous firing in the area by the `miscreants` this was not possible and huge loss of life and property was feared.

He stated that an application was earlier filed with the main petition seeking interim relief as at that time the petitioners had apprehended that during the wheat harvesting days they would be attacked by the rivals.

He contended that the main petition needed early fixation as delay in hearing the same would render the petition infructuous. This issue continues to linger on since many years over vast pieces of land on the northern outskirts of the provincial capital. The petitioners have claimed of winning the legal battle up to the Supreme Court of Pakistan, but the issue is still far from over.

In the main petition the petitioners (landlords) stated that they were owners and in possession of lands of Kafoor Dheri Peshawar since 1850/1870 as per revenue record and were declared as such by the Supreme Court in its judgment on Sept 20, 2011.

They stated that a land developer andbuilder, Bahria Town, had sometime back announced its project at Peshawar, showing the site of the project as Panam Dheri area on its Facebook page and also claiming it to be an approved project by the Peshawar Development Authority.

They stated that as per map of the project the lands of the petitioners had also been shown included in the project. They added that as per the list of the approved projects of the PDA, the name of the project of the Bahria Town was not included.

They claimed that since the announcement of the project in the area, the law and order situation had continuously been deteriorating in the shape of continuous attacks by miscreants claiming to be members of Essakhel tribe, backed by land mafia, on the property and houses of the petitioners.

They alleged that these attackers had been using RPG (rocket propelled grenades) and submachine guns for attacking the petitioners` properties in a bid to take over control of the said lands. They added that the attackers had also been using womenfolk as human shield.

They alleged that the attackers had been backed financially and in the shape of human resource by the land mafia and political rivals of the petitioners.

The petitioner stated that the rivals had also been registering fake cases against the petitioners includingMahmood Khan so as to pressurise them and usurp the said land.

They have prayed to the high court to direct the law enforcement agencies including police to deal with the miscreants with an iron hand and ensure protection to life and property of the petitioners.

They also seek directives of the court for the PDA to take action against the respondent (Bahria Town) for advertising, propagating and pursuing an illegal housing project on the fertile lands of Peshawar.

It is pertinent to mention here that recently a meeting chaired by the Peshawar commissioner was held to take stock of the issue specially the role of a Jirga of ulema mediating between the two groups.

Officials said that the Jirga members had stated that they needed support of the government for continuing the process as they were being threatened by the Essakhels of dire consequences in case they did not announce their decision in their favour or leave the jirga altogether.

The meeting has decided that restoration of the writ of the government should be the first priority and anyone found guilty of firing or display of heavy weapons should be proceeded against under the law.

It was decided that police shall conduct regular patrolling in the area to eradicate the sense of fear among the people and restore normalcy in the area.