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Protests against Hazara university expansion plan
MANSEHRA, June 20(Dawn): Hundreds of people took to the streets on Tuesday
after the district revenue department issued a notification for acquisition of
2,300 kanals of land for expansion of Hazara University.
The protesters
were annoyed over the government move, saying they had already given thousands
of kanals to the government for the 'New Balakot City'. They vowed that they
would staunchly resist the government move to expand the university.
"We
gave our precious land to our brothers hit by the earthquake and sacrificed our
most precious land for the establishment of the 'New Balakot City'. But now we
will not give even an inch of land for the expansion of the Hazara University,"
leaders of the protesters remarked.
Shouting slogans against the
government, the protesters marched through different roads and converged at the
Kachehry area, where representatives of the protesters presented a memorandum to
the district revenue officer for withdrawal of the notification
immediately.
Speaking to protesters, Hakimullah advocate, Nawaz Khan
advocate, Muhammad Faridoon Khan and others said that landowners of the Dodhal
had already given 10,000 kanals of their precious land to the government for the
establishment of the 'New Balakot City'.
They condemned, what they
called, barbaric policies of the government, adding that the authorities,
through the district revenue department, had initiated the legal process to
acquire 2,300 kanals of land in Dodhal area adjacent to the Hazara University,
which was against ethics and the law of the land.
They threatened to
block the Karakoram Highway and take other unspecified measures if the
government did not withdraw its notification.
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