Residents of Nowabad, an area under the sixth security district of Ghazni city, report that in the past week, the Taliban have ordered all Hazara residents to submit their property ownership documents to the group.
The Hazara residents of this area in Ghazni City state that they have sent their representatives with the required documents to the Taliban to resolve the issue. However, the Taliban have issued eviction orders without negotiating or reviewing their ownership documents.
Ghazni residents say the Taliban claimed the area had been usurped by the people and declared the documents invalid. They have been instructed to leave their homes and hand over the land payments to the Taliban regime.
Several residents of the Nowabad area told the Hasht-e Subh Daily that at least ten thousand Hazara families currently reside in this area. They have purchased the land from landowners living in villages around Nowabad.
The Nowabad residents in Ghazni have condemned this Taliban action as blatant discrimination against Hazaras, expressing fear of losing their homes.
A resident named Ewaz Ali, who has lived in Nowabad, central Ghazni, for the past 15 years, emphasized that he bought the land, which was privately owned, and built his home there.
Ewaz Ali said, “I bought this land from the people of Bakawol (a village on the outskirts of Ghazni city) with money and have the documents to prove it. When a party or government claims the land is usurped, they should review the documents and then make a judgment. They should ask the people who sold us the land where their documents are. It is blatant oppression to say no documents are valid and that we must repay the Taliban.”
However, a resident who spoke with the Taliban on this matter, speaking anonymously, said: “This area is surrounded by villages that have existed here for a long time. It is common for villagers to have ample land, some of which is used for agriculture, while other parts remain unused for various reasons. The people of Bakawol, Lashmak, and Mughulan (villages around the Nowabad area) sold their land to us. They provided us with customary documents based on their legal documents. The issue now is that no one is willing to review these documents; instead, they simply told us the land is government-owned and that we must pay for it.”
Ali Madad, another resident of Nowabad, emphasized that the residents are in dire economic straits and cannot afford the extortion demands of the Taliban. He said, “People can’t even find enough food for their daily meals, let alone repurchase their own homes.”
The Hazara residents of this area in Ghazni have condemned the Taliban’s decision as unjust. They stress that nomads (Kuchis) have occupied hundreds of acres of government land around Ghazni city and settled there, yet the Taliban deliberately overlook this while falsely labeling private lands as usurped.
It is noteworthy that in less than three years, the Taliban have repeatedly forced Hazaras to relocate from their homes in various provinces, demolishing or seizing their houses.
You can read the Persian version of this daily report here:
ادعای غصب زمین؛ طالبان در غزنی اسناد خانههای یک منطقه هزارهنشین را غیرمعتبر خواندند | روزنامه ۸صبح
