College land dispute triggers students' protest.

Byline: Shafiq Butt

SAHIWAL -- The students of the Government Faridiya College, Pakpattan, vandialised a wall, pelted a hospital with stones, staged a sit-in and later blocked traffic at Nagina Chowk for four hours in protest at, what they say, the encroachment of the college land by the owners of a nearby private hospital.

They alleged hospital owners broke college boundary wall and erected a new wall by encroaching seven to eight marlas late on Saturday.

The disputed land is worth Rs10 million. The local administration deployed police personnel to keep the crowd under control. Protesters chanted slogans against the hospital owners.

Dr Ihsan and Izharul Hasan - owners of Ghulam Muhammad Memorial Hospital - won their claim over the land from the court of the assistant commissioner revenue a few days back after a 10-year trial. Their private hospital is adjacent to the college's western boundary wall.

Assistant Commissioner Ali Butter passed an order which accepted their claim on the college land. In the light of the decision, hospital owners with the tesildar and patwari retrieved land by breaking the college boundary wall. Dr Ihsan told Dawn he had the ownership deed of land, which originally belonged to Hindu auqaf. The land was transferred to his family at the time of partition.

Sherbaz, deputy director of colleges, told Dawn a five-member committee had been formed to determine the determine the ownership of the land involving revenue and Punjab land Record Authority officials.

One of the committee members Prof Yaqoob Chishti told Dawn till the committee ascertained the status, the status quo would remain intact.

Director Colleges Rana Shakoor also visited the...