Okara tenants won’t be ejected: ISPR

LAHORE: The director general of Inter Services Public Relations said on Tuesday the authorities have no intention of ejecting the tenants of Okara Military Farms.

Major General Shaukat Sultan Khan told reporters the land belonged to the military. “The Punjab government handed it over to the Ministry of Defence for the army’s use in 1913 and according to resolution no D-3428 A of December 10, 1925, adapted by Pakistan in 1947, the army is authorised to remain in undisturbed possession of the land in Okara/Renala for as long as required,” he said. Gen Khan said the tenants had been leased the land by the army on contract and they could not gain ownership of it under the law.

He said a new contract drawn up by the army would be profitable not only for the owners of the land but also the tenants. The new contracts lease out the land for seven years. Commenting on the law and order situation at the military farms, Gen Khan said the Rangers had been deployed there for the protection of tenants who had accepted the new contract and who were being constantly threatened by “people with vested interests”.

He said the land could not be allotted to military personnel under the law because such prime lands cannot be sold in welfare packages. —Staff Report

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