Memorial and Appeals Against Lahore Improvement Trust's Land Acquisition Scheme Addressed to M.A. Jinnah

Sub title : Petition from Muslim Agriculturists of Fatehgarh and Surrounding Villages

Subject: Lahore Improvement Trust | Displacement of Muslim Agriculturists | Factory Area Development | Punjab Town Improvement

Date of publication: 1943

Language: English

Page: 21 p.

Source: National Archives of Pakistan

Serial no: 27971

Keyword: Lahore Improvement Trust -- Land Acquisition 1943 -- Muslim Zamindars | Factory Area Scheme -- M.A. Jinnah Appeal -- Khizar Hayat Khan Tiwana -- Punjab Town Improvement Act | Displacement Protest -- Agricultural Land | Pakistan Movement -- Economic Exploitation -- Memorial -- Village Petitions

Abstract: This collection comprises a detailed memorial and urgent appeals from Muslim agriculturists and zamindars of several villages near Lahore (including Fatehgarh, Salamatpura, Kotli Pir Abdul Rehman, and others) against the Lahore Improvement Trust’s scheme to acquire 1,100 acres of their fertile agricultural land for conversion into a factory area. The documents, dated 1943, are addressed to Premier Malik Khizar Hayat Khan Tiwana and, urgently, to M.A. Jinnah. The petitioners argue that the acquisition at nominal prices will lead to their mass displacement, destroy their livelihood, violate the Land Alienation Act, and strategically reduce the Muslim majority in Lahore—thus undermining the Pakistan movement. They appeal for intervention to cancel the project and protect their ancestral homes and farms.

Description: This file contains scanned pages of a comprehensive memorial and several appeals written in 1943 by residents of villages east of the Shalimar Gardens in Lahore. The documents include a formal petition to Premier Khizar Hayat Khan Tiwana, an urgent handwritten appeal to M.A. Jinnah, and lists of hundreds of affected Muslim landholders with their familial and caste details. The petitioners articulate their distress over the impending loss of homes and fertile lands, criticize the Trust’s misuse of the 1922 Town Improvement Act, warn of the socio-political consequences of displacing thousands of Muslim families, and accuse the Punjab Ministry of favoring non-Muslim industrialists. The papers reflect a significant grassroots resistance movement during the pivotal pre-Partition period, highlighting the intersection of land rights, communal demography, and political representation. SCANNED BY: NATIONAL ARCHIVES OF PAKISTAN.

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