Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: Taking notice on an application filed by Quaid-e-Azam University (QAU), Islamabad regarding illegal occupation of its land, the Honourable Chief Justice of Pakistan, Justice Mian Saqib Nisar has sought detailed reports from the Chairman, CDA and the Secretary, Ministry of Interior, within three days.

The application of the university’s administration alleged that they paid for 1709 acres of land. In response, though, the area was handed over to the university in 1972, but its vacant possession was not given by the CDA.

The application further pointed out that the university was continuously facing land grabbing and encroachment problems, besides the settlements, which were already there since its original land allocation in 1967 and 1972.

Furthermore, till today, the university has lost control of over 600 acres of its estate and it is apprehended that if land grabbing/encroachments and illegal occupation of the university’s estate were not checked, then in future there may not be a university campus worth the name.

The application also highlighted that the alleged land grabbers and the illegal occupants were politically influential people that have made the situation worst for the university.

The application further stated that the university approached almost every authority to help them to resolve the issue but all in vain. Taking cognizance of the issue, the Hon’ble Chief Justice of Pakistan has directed to call detailed reports from the Chairman, CDA and the Secretary, Ministry of Interior, within three days.

The land encroachment dispute of QAU is decades old whereas the Pakistan Peoples’ Party Leader and former Chairman Senate Nayyar Hussain Bokhari is continuously being accused of grabbing university land, however he refused such claims and asked for fresh demarcation wherever he was contacted. The issue flared up recently when some new encroachments were spotted out by the university administration followed by a strong and continuous agitation from students, teachers, employees and alumni members for the varsity in December 2016.

A joint action committee comprising the representatives of Staff Association, Academic Association and Alumni Association was also formed to pursue the four point agenda.

The committee initiated its efforts for fresh demarcation of land, removal of illegal occupants, peaceful possession of complete 1709 acres of land and construction of a boundary wall.

Meanwhile, the CDA and the QAU also agreed to immediately form a joint working group to address the issues facing the country’s leading seat of learning, especially massive land encroachments.

It was decided during the visit of the CDA chairman and Islamabad Mayor Sheikh Ansar Aziz to the QAU along with the relevant officials of the civic agency.

The QAU named Dr Wasim Ahmad, Dr Shafiqur Rehman, Engineer Bakht Rehman, Ashfaq Khan, Dr Ilhan Niaz and Dr Ishtiaq Ali as its members for the proposed joint working group and requested the CDA to name its men, including at least one board member and relevant DGs or DDGs.

However, while responding to the latest development the Secretary General QAU Alumni Association, Muhammad Murtaza Noor said: “It is a great step by the apex court and we are quite hopeful that after the court’s intervention the matter would be resolved on a prompt basis.”