RAWALPINDI: Political parties and traders joined hands on Saturday to express their opposition to the Murree Development Plan announced by the Punjab government, which they feared would cost the locals their jobs and livelihoods.

The protest was also attended by political parties, including the PPP and the PTI. The PML, however, announced a boycott of the demonstration dubbed by the protesters as ‘grand jirga’. Despite the imposition of Section 144 in Murree, a large number of people attended the demonstration, due to which all roads to Murree remained blocked for three to four hours.

As they announced a shutter-down strike in Murree on December 27, the participants urged the government not to make people jobless in the name of development or acquire land from locals without any reason. After the protest, a committee was formed for a joint plan of action to press the Punjab government to stop the implementation of the Murree Development Plan. The scheme reportedly will end 200-year-old bazaars in Jhika Gali and The Mall and deprive the public of property in the name of development work.

The committee comprises Anjuman-i-Tajran members Tufail Ikhlaq and Nasir Abbasi; PTI’s Raja Nadeem, Umar Naveed Satti, and Irfan Almas Abbasi; Awam Pakistan’s nominee Nauman Abid Abbasi; JUI-F’s Saifullah Saifi; PPP’s Murtaza Satti, Mehreen Anwar Raja, and Shafqat Abbasi, among others.

Former PTI MNA from Murree Sadaqat Abbasi told Dawn that all parties except for the PML-N joined hands with traders and residents to oppose the Murree Development Plan, as it was aimed at ending the century-old bazaars of Murree and it also invoked Section 4 to forcefully acquire people’s land.

Shutter-down strike on 27th; participants say govt depriving locals of job, land in the name of uplift

He said the PTI had given the names of three persons for the committee to decide a plan of action, adding that the movement was not against any specific party but against the policy to end the old bazaars.

He said that during PTI’s tenure, Murree was given the status of a district, but the Punjab government even failed to develop a district headquarters hospital in Murree.

Speaking at the protest, former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi said that the residents were not allowed to construct buildings in their areas, but elites from other parts of the country were allowed to come to the hill station and construct buildings.

He claimed a law of jungle prevailed in the area, adding that in the name of development, the provincial government tried to end 200-year-old bazaars that fed more than eight villages of the district.

“What kind of government is this that is demolishing buildings and taking away jobs without taking the people into confidence? There is a solution to everything; no government can compete with the power of the people,” he said, adding that Nawaz Sharif he knew would give jobs to people instead of snatching employment from them.

The former prime minister claimed that in his 37-year political history, Section 144 had never been imposed in Murree.

Before taking any step in Murree, the government should take the people into confidence and address their reservations.

Other speakers said that the government wanted to end the old bazaars and had asked the shopkeepers and hotel owners to sell their land to the government. They said that development was being carried out in a radius of three kilometres, and rural areas of Murree were ignored.

On the other hand, Murree Deputy Commissioner Agha Zaheer Sherazi told Dawn that the administration did not stop any person from staging a protest in Lower Topa.

He said that traders started the protest because the government started work to widen and remodel The Mall and Jhika Gali and end encroachments.

He said that the Murree Development Plan aimed to beautify the hill station to attract more visitors.

He said that no new taxes were imposed nor any new building by-laws were implemented.

In June this year, the Punjab government approved the Murree Development Plan that also includes the Rawalpindi-Murree tourist glass train project.

As a part of this project, the government decided to relocate hotels from the GPO Chowk to an alternative location.

The meeting decided to restore the old names of areas and historical buildings, including that of Murree, as well as introduce a uniform colour scheme for old buildings along The Mall.

It also decided to remove multi-storey hotel buildings obstructing the natural scenery of The Mall. The amendments to construction by-laws to transfer approval power to the provincial level were also approved by the meeting.

Published in Dawn, December 15th, 2024