On a cold evening in 1971, during the tension between Pakistan and India, the residents of Chholankha village were preparing to go to sleep when the Pakistani authorities ordered them to vacate the area.

Ninety-year-old Haji Muhammad Cho recalls that on December 12, 1971, the entire area was evacuated overnight. The women, children, and elderly from the village, with the help of the Pakistani army, moved towards safer locations. However, nearly all the young men from the village decided to stay behind and assist the army as volunteers. Some of them were martyred, and those who survived later reunited with their families.

Chholankha village was located in the far eastern district of Ghanche in Gilgit-Baltistan near the Line of Control. Ghanche’s northeastern boundary borders China (Xinjiang/Uyghur), its southeast borders Indian-occupied Ladakh (Leh) region of Kashmir, and its west borders Skardu and Shigar district.

Haji Muhammad recalls that when the village was being evacuated, many families were separated from each other. Some people headed towards India-held Kashmir (Ladakh/Leh), where they still live today.

“However, dozens of families, including our own, for the love of Pakistan, moved to the nearby district of Skardu, where Pakistani authorities assured us of resettlement. Many years later, they demarcated lands for us and gave us possession but now we are being evicted from here.”

Land made inhabitable with sweat, blood and tears

The government planned to settle the displaced people from Chholankha village in the area of Sarfa Ranga or Sarfa Ranga Das (Das is a local term for sandy plains) in Shigar tehsil, adjacent to Skardu.
This area (Sarfa Ranga) is located about 25km from Skardu city in the Shigar tehsil near the site of the ‘Cold Desert Jeep Rally.

Haji Muhammad Cho’s family has been living in rented houses or leased lands since 1971. He says that since they became refugees, only the Pakistan Army has cared for them, but the civilian administration has never offered assistance.

“Years later, we were given possession of a piece of land in Sarfa Ranga, where nothing was available, not even basic amenities like water and electricity. We worked as labourers in cities, cultivated the land, and made it habitable with our hard-earned money. But now we fear that we might be deprived of our land on the demand of some people.”

Legal battle between local residents and refugees

When the people from Chholankha arrived in Skardu, several families who had migrated in 1948 were already settled there. Many of them had been allotted land in areas like Hussainabad and Hotothang in the district, while some were left without any land allocation.

A record from the Chief Court Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) Skardu Registry in a case (Sarfa Ranga villagers vs provincial government, refugees, etc., Review Petition No. 63/2022) shows that refugees were allotted 5,874 kanals of land in the 1990s. Those allotted land in Sarfa Ranga included 169 families who migrated in 1948 and 267 families who were affected by the 1971 war. Each family was given 22 kanals of land.

However, the local residents of Sarfa Ranga challenged this allotment in court in 1997, claiming that they had the first right to the government land. Five years later, in 2002, a civil court issued a verdict based on reconciliation between the parties.

As a result of the reconciliation, the 1971 refugees gave up their claim to 534 kanals (two kanals per household) of land in favour of the local residents of Sarfa Ranga, and the claimant party accepted the allotment. However, the allotment was never fully implemented.

During this time, the dispute over the allotment continued between the revenue department and various courts. Finally, in 2022, the matter reached the Chief Court Gilgit-Baltistan Skardu Registry, where the residents of Sarfa Ranga filed a review petition.

In November 2024, the Chief Court issued a detailed decision, providing protection to the refugees’ allotment. However, the issue did not end there.

Unending litigation between the of 1948 and 1971 

While various petitions were under consideration in the lower courts as well as the Chief Court, some refugees from 1948 filed a case, arguing that they had been deprived of the land allotment and should be given their due share. 

The revenue department officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity, explain that there are two groups of refugees who are also entangled in a legal battle among themselves.

They state that most of the 1948 refugees had already been allotted land but later, they increased the number of their households and applied for land in Sarfa Ranga. This case is now also under consideration in the Supreme Appellate Court GB, further prolonging the issue.

Mohammad Khan, president of All 1971 Refugees, confirms that an agreement had been reached between the refugees and the local people of Sarfa Ranga but the refugees were constantly harassed with cancellations of their official documents or other excuses.

Officials’ bid to evict people and their retreat

Seventy-year-old Mohammad Khan, who now resides in Skardu, recalls leaving Chholankha village at the age of 16. His father owned 15 kanals of land, which is also recorded in the district of Ghanche.

He says that their people migrated in the love of their country and for the past month, they have been holding a protest continuously. However, they have yet to get possession of their allotted land and no civil authority is willing to cooperate. He complains that the district administration wants to reallocate the land.

“Our people who were allotted land in Sarfa Ranga are also at risk of being evicted. The government officials have come several times to evict them but they retreated after resistance. The government must resolve our issues or we will be forced to take extreme measures.”

Refugees struggle of lifetime 

Now, Sarfa Ranga Das has become a protest site as the 1971 refugees face the threat of eviction, while 1948 refugees want land allotments. Local residents believe they are being deprived of their lands, grazing areas, rights and ancestral resources, which is why they are opposing further allotments of land to refugees. As a result, the two groups, the 1971 refugees and the local residents, have been protesting and demonstrating in Sarfa Ranga for some time.

Haji Muhammad Cho says that they deserve the same rights to live as other citizens of this country.

“We have managed to survive. Now our children have grown up—how long will they continue to suffer? Many of our relatives in Skardu have their siblings and children across the border. They have endured decades of separation. Now justice must be served. If the administration does not want us here, they should immediately relocate us to another area of Baltistan so that we can live in peace with our children.”

The local land revenue officials state that they are waiting for the court’s decision. Whatever the court rules, they will be bound to implement it.