Eye-witness account : No rights for the illiterate?

After having lost all claim to property with nearly Rs70 million, Haji Mohammad Akram, 75, believes he is paying the price for his illiteracy.

The owner of over 72 kanals of land in Noon Village in the outskirts of Islamabad, Mr Akram’s only mistake was trusting his relatives with a property transaction. The land was cultivated by his ancestors, but had been lying unused.

In 2004, Mr Akram decided to make a pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia to perform the Hajj. To pay for his trip, he decided to sell two kanals of the property he had inherited and asked his nephews to arrange the transaction.

They drew up the paperwork and after obtaining his thumb impressions, gave Mr Akram Rs200,000 and told him his land had been sold. But since his name did not appear in the list during Hajj balloting, the bank returned his money.

Soon afterwards, both nephews began pestering Mr Akram for the money, saying the land had not been sold and the buyer was asking for his money back. Mr Akram agreed to return the amount, but insisted that the land be transferred back to him. Again, both nephews drew up the paper work and got Mr Akram to turn over power of attorney to them.

Two years later, in 2007, some people arrived in the village and started marking the land. When Mr Akram inquired why they were trespassing on his property, they told him they had purchased the land.

Upon confirmation from the revenue department, Mr Akram was told that all 72 kanals of land had been transferred and he had no claim to the land anymore.

Since then, Mr Akram has been running from pillar to post; from the Capital Development Authority to the Federal Investigation Agency and even National Accountability Bureau and other departments, filing applications. But so far, no one has been able to ensure justice for him.

Because the people of his village know him well, he says he still has possession of the land.

“My villagers know the story and they support me, but my nephews are just waiting for me to die. I have no heirs and they know that once I’m out of the picture, the land will be theirs,” he said.