Some
of the issues are not political. Maybe one party which is in power toady will
be in opposition tomorrow. So better be considerate regarding one's political
trading! Also, they are all brothers in arms after all!
See
this news item regarding such an act of the Riyasati Ashrafiya's (State
Aristocracy's) "insider trading":
ISLAMABAD:
Deafening political rancour apart, Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif has
approved “compulsory” acquisition of a huge piece of land,
1,000 acres (8,000 kanals), for the Namal College Mianwali of Pakistan
Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan at a throwaway price but
several key PML-N figures are loudly protesting the decision.
Top
officials of the Punjab government and Namal Education Foundation (NEF), which
runs the facility, confirmed to The News that the chief minister has sanctioned
acquisition of 1,000 acres of land from local landowners under the 1894 Act,
which provides for enforced procurement by the government.
The
NEF has paid an astonishingly low price of Rs1,500 per kanal, meaning a total
of Rs15 million including the essential acquisition charges for the entire
piece of 1,000 acres. Way back in 2009, the Shahbaz Sharif government imposed a
complete ban on compulsory land acquisition for societies, trusts, private
companies etc, on the ground that some land grabbers were exploiting this
permission.
An
official said that as a special dispensation for Namal College the ban was
relaxed by the chief minister as Imran Khan, at least twice, recently requested
his personal intervention in the matter.
“Thus,
Shahbaz Sharif and Imran Khan teamed up for the Namal College.” When contacted, a Punjab government spokesman said “for the chief
minister furtherance of education is a noble purpose and has to be bipartisan.
Hence, he ordered the provision of land for the Namal College, sponsored
by the PTI chairman. Development and welfare has to be above politics in the
same spirit as Nawaz Sharif had provided prime land for the Shaukat Khanum
Cancer Hospital Lahore when he was the chief minister of Punjab two decades
ago.”
The
NEF Director of Marketing Abid Hussain told this correspondent that the Namal
College submitted the request to the Punjab government for land acquisition in
2008 and it was pending since then. He said the price of Rs1,500 per kanal was
not very low because the land comprised hills and uneven tracts.
He
said all the legal formalities have been completed and the district price
assessment committee Mianwali fixed its cost that the Namal College has paid. Some
PTI leaders contacted by The News for comments refused to speak on the subject
saying that the Namal College has nothing to do with their party.
The
PTI chairman has been criticising the Punjab government for non-cooperation in
this aspect. However, the chief minister got the land acquired at a break neck
speed within a matter of days and got it transferred in name of Namal College.
The
downside is that Shahbaz Sharif has attracted intense criticism of landowners
and PML-N rank and file of Mianwali. They have conveyed their anger to the
chief minister. Obaidullah Shadikhel, who was elected in the recent by-polls
from NA-71 Mianwali, the seat vacated by Imran Khan, and former MPs Humair
Rokhari and Ali Noor Niazi scoffed at the Punjab government for its decision to
allocate a huge tract of land for the project.
They
dubbed it as a “land grab” and said
that the Atchison College Lahore is spread over 200 acres; Military College
Jhelum over 100 acres; Cadet College Hasan Abdal over 120 acres; Sadiq Public
School Bahawalpur over 150 acres; and LUMS (Lahore University of Management
Sciences) over 170 acres. They questioned the provision of such a colossal
piece of land to the Namal College and said this is the prime land due to its
proximity to the scenic Namal Lake on Talagang Mianwali Road.
However,
the criticism has not changed the chief minister’s mind. Since he refused to
review his decision, the critics have approached a court of Mianwali and got
stay order. They said the Punjab government has already given a 16-room hostel,
a complete academic bloc, and 12 official residences of a government college to
the Namal College.
A
landlord of the area, Malik Akhtar Awan, who is also a practicing lawyer, told
The News that the Namal College was presently functioning on 50 kanals while it
has an additional 350 kanals of piece that is sufficient for its expanded
activities. He said he was not associated with any political party, and claimed
that 1,000 acres of land acquired for the educational institution at highly
cheap rates has the actual price of billions of rupees.
Imran
Khan’s message on the NEF website reads “in 2002, on a social development tour
across Mianwali, I came across an appalling reality that haunts most of
Pakistan” high level of unemployment amongst the youth. I resolved to set up a
technical college so that the youth could become employable.
However, two
things made me change my mind and instead, I decided to build a world class
university. First was the beautiful location of the site (donated free of cost
by the villagers), which made me dream of a knowledge city like Oxford.
Secondly,
when I was offered the Chancellorship of the University of Bradford, I realised
that I had access to an enormous academic support to pursue this dream. I am
under no illusion that it is a huge challenge to set up a centre of excellence
in such a remote though beautiful location. It will require a huge amount of
funds to make it a university of international standard. I want to see over
half the students in the university coming from less privileged backgrounds
through scholarships, who in our present elitist education system cannot dream
of having access to high quality education. I once again look forward to your
help to shoulder the responsibility of educating our youth and paving the path
for their brighter futures.”
Namal
College is located in Rikhi in district Mianwali. It is very near to Namal
Lake. Imran Khan is poised to build the educational institution on the pattern
of the Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital Lahore.
[The News October 02, 2013 ]
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