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PESHAWAR, PAKISTAN, November 15, 2003: The Cantonment Board, Peshawar, has decided not to pursue notices issued to 68 families, who are mostly Hindu, to vacate houses occupied by them in the Kali Bari locality until the matter is amicably resolved. Fida Hussain, Executive Officer of the Cantonment Board, told The News that no further action is being taken on the notices. “There would be status quo. We would consider all available options to solve the problem. The Kali Bari residents have also been asked to come up with proposals,” he said. The Cantonment Board had served notice on the 68 families residing in the Kali Bari compound in Peshawar Saddar last month giving them a week to vacate their houses and a Hindu temple. The deadline was extended to one month until after Eid-ul-Fitr following meetings between Cantonment Board officials and representatives of the affected families. But Fida Hussain said the one-month notice was no longer valid. He said the Station Commander after meetings with community elders had decided not to pursue the notices until further orders. He said certain options were under consideration including settlement of the 68 families on government land elsewhere in the city once they are displaced. In this context, he said the NWFP government would be requested to provide land to settle the affected families.



With regard to the temple in the area, this report states, “Responding to Hindu community elder Ram Lal’s claim that they possessed ownership documents dating back 130 years, Fida Hussain reminded that it wasn’t the first time that the Kali Bari residents have been issued notices to vacate the illegally occupied land. ‘They are issued notices from time to time. The land is owned by the Cantonment Board Peshawar. The settlement department never allotted the land to the present residents or their forefathers,’ he maintained. Ram Lal had also claimed that one Mehr Chand Khanna owned the Kali Bari property having purchased it in the 18th century. He recalled that the Hindu temple was built in 1861. But Fida Hussain said Mr. Khanna is dead and the property reverted back to the Cantonment Board after the 1947 partition of India and creation of Pakistan.

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