Relatives bicker over land as body awaits burial

The situation has been defused now but the SHO of Roopnagar Sadar police station is camping at the village with 25 policemen at the police post.

The women8217;s sons, Hakam Ali and Roshan Ali, told The Indian Express that certain influential persons had grabbed their graveyard and they the Alis won8217;t have a morsel of food till their mother was allowed to be buried there. They said when their father, Mazid Khan, had died about 11 months ago, a similar situation had arisen. 8220;Our father was buried at the shamlat land of the panchayat on the request of the village panchayat but our mother will be buried at the graveyard,8221; they asserted.

A cross-section of the villagers alleged in the presence of the village Sarpanch that the family of Didar Singh had grabbed the land that8217;s spread over eight bighas and 14 biswas of land. They expressed full support for Lajo Begum8217;s family.

But Didar Singh said the land has been in the possession of his family since independence and denied that there had ever been any graveyard on it.

According to him, it was lal dora land and the revenue records also did not indicate any graveyard there. When asked to show the relevant documents which would prove his ownership claim, he said in lal dora, the person in possession of the land was considered to be the owner. He added that no one would be allowed to bury the dead there.

Didar Singh also claimed that there was no Muslim family in the village in 1952 when consolidation of the land was conducted and this Muslim family had settled here only after 1965.

When The Indian Express team visited the village on two days, an akhand path and a langar community kitchen were in progress on the disputed land and the family members of Didar Singh were present. Though villagers alleged that the path was being performed for the first time, Singh said his family has been holding it annually at the same spot.

Roopnagar Deputy Commissioner G S Grewal said the land was subject of a dispute in a Roopnagar court. 8220;During the pendency of the court case, the administration is helpless to intervene in the matter,8221; he explained. He said the administration was trying to persuade both parties to end the dispute and the situation was under control.

Punjab Minister for Sports and Matters Relating to Wakf Nusrat Ali Khan said he had talked to the district police chief and asked him to arrange for the burial of the woman at the graveyard. He hoped the matter would be solved soon.

Various organisations and political parties, including the Congress and the BSP, have also urged the district administration to immediately intervene in the matter and arrange for the burial of the body.