Close X
Thursday, October 31, 2024
ADVT 
International

Kartarpur Corridor: Villagers In Pakistan Demand Compensation For Their Land

Darpan News Desk IANS, 20 Mar, 2019 07:29 PM

    As Pakistan and India discuss the alignment of the Kartarpur corridor, some 600 villagers who are facing “forcible eviction” due to the project say they will block the development work if denied compensation of their land on commercial rates.


    The entire population (600) of village Kothay Khurd, where Gurdwara Dera Sahib Kartarpur is located (some 125-km from Lahore), has been ordered by the district administration to vacate their houses immediately for the development of the Kartarpur corridor to facilitate the Sikh pilgrims from India.


    “My ancestors had settled in the village even before the partition and now our fifth generation is living here. Some officials came here and told the residents that the government was planning to build Kartarpur corridor on our land, therefore we will have to vacate the land,” Mohammad Arshad of Kothay Khurd told reporters.


    “We are living in the area for centuries and it was not possible for us to leave the area and the graves of our ancestors,” another villager Zaeem Hussain said, adding that the government officials had only told them that they would be compensated after their land and houses had been acquired.


    Hussain said there has been consensus among the villagers to sacrifice their agricultural land but none of them is ready to leave their ancestral houses.


    He said the villagers will protest and not let the government develop the corridor if it forcibly evicted them from their houses. “We want compensation of our land on commercial rates,” he demanded.


    The Pakistan Kissan Rabita Committee has demanded immediate compensation for farmers on commercial rates. It said no ordinary compensation would be accepted and the affected families be given one job each.



    Deputy Commissioner Waheed Asghar says the government is acquiring the land under Section 4 of the Punjab Land Acquisition Act 1894 and it will pay compensation for the crop and land. He denied that the government was forcefully evicting the villagers.


    “We are trying to resolve the matter peacefully,” he added.


    Evacuee Trust Property Board spokesman Asif Hashmi told that almost 40 per cent of the development work on the Kartarpur corridor has been completed.


    “The development work on the corridor is underway and will be completed well ahead of this November to observe the 550 birth anniversary of Baba Guru Nanak,” Hashmi said.


    Experts from India and Pakistan on Tuesday held a meeting to discuss the alignment of the Kartarpur border-crossing corridor project. Both sides jointly surveyed the coordinates of the zero point and discussed technical aspects including finished road level, high flood level, etc.


    Zero point is the point at which the Indian side of the corridor and the Pakistani side of the corridor will be meeting.


    The two sides agreed on some technical aspects and hope to finalise other modalities soon. The next meeting is to be held at Wagah on April 2.


    The meeting had come amid heightened tensions between the two neighbours following India’s air strike on a terrorist training camp of the Jaish-e-Mohammed and Pakistan’s subsequent retaliation.


    Last November, India and Pakistan agreed to set up the border crossing linking Gurudwara Darbar Sahib in Kartarpur, the final resting place of Sikh faith’s founder Guru Nanak Dev, to Dera Baba Nanak shrine in India’s Gurdaspur district.


    Kartarpur Sahib is located in Pakistan’s Narowal district across the river Ravi, about four km from the Dera Baba Nanak shrine.



    Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu and Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh had on November 26 last year laid the foundation stone of the Kartarpur corridor in Gurdaspur district.


    Two days later, Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan laid the foundation stone of the corridor in Narowal.

    MORE International ARTICLES

    Reuters Team Prevented For Third Time From Climbing Hill To Madrasa Site In Balakot

    Pakistani security officials on Thursday prevented a Reuters team from climbing a hill in northeastern Pakistan to the site of a madrasa and a group of surrounding buildings that was targeted by Indian warplanes last week.  

    Reuters Team Prevented For Third Time From Climbing Hill To Madrasa Site In Balakot

    On Women's Day, Pak's First Hindu Female Lawmaker Addresses Parliament

    Krishna, 40, was elected as senator in March 2018 after spending many years working for the rights of bonded labourers in Muslim-majority Pakistan.  

    On Women's Day, Pak's First Hindu Female Lawmaker Addresses Parliament

    Padma Lakshmi Appointed UNDP's Goodwill Ambassador On Women's Day

    International Women's Day 2019: UNDP announced Padma Lakshmi's appointment on Thursday, on the eve of International Women's Day.  

    Padma Lakshmi Appointed UNDP's Goodwill Ambassador On Women's Day

    Pakistan Says 'Barred Hafiz Saeed From Giving Friday Sermon In Lahore': Report

    Pakistan Says 'Barred Hafiz Saeed From Giving Friday Sermon In Lahore': Report
    Hafiz Saeed's terror group Jamaat-ud-Dawa is the front organisation for the Lashkar-e-Taiba or LeT, which is responsible for carrying out the Mumbai terror attack that killed 166 people. JuD had been declared as a foreign terrorist organisation by the US in June 2014.  

    Pakistan Says 'Barred Hafiz Saeed From Giving Friday Sermon In Lahore': Report

    Stormy Daniels' Lawsuit Against Donald Trump Tossed Out Of Court

    Adult film star Stormy Daniels' lawsuit against US President Donald Trump over a non-disparagement agreement has been tossed out of federal court.    

    Stormy Daniels' Lawsuit Against Donald Trump Tossed Out Of Court

    Pakistan Turns Down Visa Request Of UN Team To Interview Hafiz Saeed

    Hafiz Saeed was listed under UN Security Council Resolution 1267 in December 2008 after the Mumbai terror attack in which 10 Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorists killed 166 people.

    Pakistan Turns Down Visa Request Of UN Team To Interview Hafiz Saeed