Outrage at Naya Qila

Farmers’ land being usurped for golf course.

Start of golf course work startles civil society organisations

Farmers stopped from entering farms

Fencing being done with police bandobasth

Ilyas Khan, a farmer who has two acres of land abutting the historic Golconda Fort in which he grows grass, got a shock on Tuesday morning when the approach road to his farm was blocked. Adding insult to injury, he was not allowed as fencing work was in progress with police bandobast.

“The government wants to provide two acres of land 50 km away in Pudugodu mandal of Ranga Reddy district. This land belongs to our ancestors and we do not want to go anywhere. We have all rights to enter and grow what we want,” asserts Ilyas Ahmed Khan. Local farmers, who own 54 acres of land abutting the Golconda Fort, gathered at the Naya Qila gate, but were not allowed to enter the area. Afzal, another farmer, said, “We have the AP High Court’s order to maintain status quo and the fencing that is going on is in violation of that order. Ever since the Hyderabad Golf Association (HGA) work started, people have had no access to several mosques, graveyards and monuments dating back centuries.”

Anil, a social activist, said, “Even as the fencing work was going on and golfers were playing, farmers who own that very piece of land were not allowed to enter the fields.”

Members of civil society organisations gathered at Naya Qila to protest the outrage, but were not allowed to enter the area. Jasvin Jairath of Save Our Urban Lakes (SOUL) said, “This is in gross violation of the High Court order. In the justification of the police as well as the officials of the Tourism Department nowhere does it say in the High Court order that fencing cannot be done. It is just an excuse to gobble up the land that rightfully belongs to farmers.”

A senior member of the HGA, who did not want to be named, said that the association was now not involved and that the Tourism Department had taken up the fencing work.

When contacted, Special Chief Secretary, Tourism, Chandana Khan, said, “The work is going on in accordance with the law. There is no court order that says fencing cannot be done.” However, Jasvin Jairath says, “Land was allotted to HGA only to take up grassing without changing the contours. If the Special Chief Secretary, Tourism, says that there is no High Court order, she is lying. Already so much damage has been done to Deccan Gardens and people are now not allowed to visit the Mustafa Khan Masjid. The department says that land acquisition took place, which again is false. Farmers are still in possession of land.”