NUZHAT NAZAR

ISLAMABAD: The Senate Standing Committee on Defence Monday constituted a subcommittee to probe a matter of land in Quetta.

The committee was chaired by Senator Mushahid Hussain Sayed in which it formed a subcommittee comprising Senator Hidayatullah, Senator Farhat Ullah Babar and convener Senator Lt Gen Abdul Qayyum (retd).

The subcommittee has been directed to hold meetings with the high-ups of Pakistan Air Force and Ministry of Defence, provincial government of Balochistan and the land owners in Quetta to prepare a substantive report in the matter.

The committee discussed the adjournment motion of senators Muhammad Usman Kakar, Sardar Muhammad Azam Khan Musakhel and Gul Bashra regarding an alarming rise in land occupation in Quetta.

An air commodore of PAF briefed the committee that PAF is using land in Samungli, Nohisar and Maslaikh as air bases and firing range, etc. He said that these lands were acquired in 1942, 1978 and 2008 respectively in accordance with due procedure, adding that documents are available in this regard.

The committee was further briefed that Pakistan Air Force intends to set up a city named Yunusabad in Quetta named after an Air Force Captain Yunus on the pattern of the city Rashidabad, set up by Air Force in Sindh. He said the area and the facilities therein will be primarily aimed for the underprivileged and its beneficiaries will have nothing to do with the PAF.

The movers of the adjournment motion Senator Kakar and Senator Musakhel while giving their views said that there lies a difference in voluntary donation of land and forced occupation.

Kakar aruged that the land for Rashidabad was donated by the father of Captain Rashid Khan Shahhed, while in case of the land in Quetta, it is being forcibly acquired. He said that much of the land in Balochistan is still undivided and is a collective property of a tribe. Senator Azam Musakhel also referred to three resolutions of the Balochistan provincial assembly which in 1999, 2002 and 2014 through which the legislature constituted the “ occupation”.

The committee also heard two land owners from Balochistan and, after deliberations and suggestions from members, formed a subcommittee on the matter.

The committee also passed a unanimous resolution praising the historic victory of Pakistan against India in the ICC Champions Trophy final on Sunday. The resolution stated, “The Senate Defence Committee, reflecting the sentiments of the Parliament and the people of Pakistan, extends heartiest congratulations to the Pakistan Cricket Team for winning the ICC Champions Trophy through excellent teamwork.