Mohra Malkan

Demography

The current population of the expanded village should be more than 700. Presently, village has 25 Jatt families; few Pathan families around the village and a Malik and a Chohan family each. Mohra Malkan is also known by its two Army Officers; Mehmood Akhtar and Abbas Akbar.Govt Primary School Mehra Chapran is the old school for the surroundings villages including Mohra Malkaan. The school could not be upgraded due to it being located on the edge of Magla Dam. The village, located just 2 km from Dadyal City, has no paved road except for the first 700 meters, again due to the fact that the village is located next to Mangla Dam.Mohra Malkaan received its electrification in 1985 but still there is no water supply. However, the village is lucky to have strong signals of all the cellular companies. Mohra Malkaan is also known for its proximity to Mangla Dam which makes it a hub of fun fishing, swimming, boating and camping activity. Youngsters of the village have traditionally been good at fishing and swimming. Moreover, visiting UK expats also throng the shores of Mangla Dam, next to the village for fishing and camping etc. Cricket is the favourite game of the youngsters and their team has been Jinnah Cricket Club (JCC) since 1982. They often play friendly matches on weekends with the teams from neighbouring villages of Chappran, Mehra, Raipur, Samlotha, Pathans etc. Popular players of JCC have been Riasab Ch, Mehbood alias Gogoo, Zafar alias Kaka, Mahroof Ch, Gulistan Pathan,Gamma Khan,Waqar alias Qari etc. The Pathan families of Mohra Malkan have traditionally been selling buffaloes/ milk and supplying coal to the kilns. People of Mohra Malkan also grow wheat when the water recedes from Mangla Dam.However, they always complained the land owners have been harsh to them as they take away half of the produce without bearing any expenditure in the cost of production.

History

Unlike most of the villages of Dadyal, only one person, Ch Mahroof Akhtar, migrated to UK (Birmingham) in 2003 for settlement. On the contrary, people of Mohra Malkan either go to Saudi Arabia like Ch Tassab or seek the govt job like the two Army Officers in Pakistan Army. The name of the village in local Pahari language means place of the Maliks, (or chiefs in English) who were the old inhabitants of Mohra Malkan before 1967.The village of Mohra Malkan consists of 50 Houses.Literacy Rate of these people is 90% which is quite high as compared to other villages of the area. After the first impounding of Mangla Dam in 1967, the old inhabitants of the village, Maliks, relocated in the city of New Dadyal. However, the village was now populated by the JATT refugees of 1965 Indo-Pak War who had migrated from Distt Pounch (Tehsil Mehnder) of Indian Administered Kashmir.It is because of this reason that the village is sometimes also known as Poorana (Old) Mohra Malkan. These poor and war stricken people still inhabit the village though a vast majority of them shifted to Chamb, Khairowal Jattan (Iftikhar Abad), Distt Bhimber in 1974 where they were allotted agriculture land (64 kanals per family).

Political affiliations

The Chaudhries of Mohra Malkan have traditionally voted along the clanish lines. Their favourite candidates have been Ch Yousuf, Chacha Ali Muhammad and Afsar Shahid Ch. However, for last 10 to 12 years, they have consistently been voting for Mr Afsar Shahid irrespective of his own political leanings.Broadly speaking, Barrister Sultan Mehmood Ch and Ch Afsar Shahid are considered their political heroes/role models (irrespective of their political affiliation). Munshi Nazeer Hussain, Ch Tassab, Chairman Shabbir and Shahzad Akbar are the key political figures of the village. However, the two Army Officers have strong political influence on these figures. Ch Muhammad Tassab is based in Jeddah, KSA for last 15 years and is a Foreman. He has great privilege of hosting hundreds of visiting Hajis (pilgrims) from Dadyal to Saudi Arab for Haj and Umra. He not only hosts them but spares his time for showing them around the holy sites. He is taken in great esteem by great many people of Dadyal Azad Kashmir. He also wields considerable political influence in other villages of Dadyal. It is noteworthy that many of the relatives of the Chaudhries of Mohra Malkan shifted to Khairowal, Distt Bhimber in 1974 but the inhabitants of Mohra Malkan are proud/boast of their Dadyali credentials instead of their more representative vill Khairowal.Many of the families which shifted to Khairowal or Chamb still have nostaligic feelings of their days in Dadyal and great people of Dadyal. They do not miss an opportunity (funeral, weddings, festivals) to enjoy their occasional reunions with the inhabitants of Mohra Malkan and other villages like Chapran, Mehra etc.

Resettlement in WAPDA Town Dadyal

Mangla Dam's level is being raised from the current level of 1210 to 1250. Numerous villages of Dadyal including Mohra Malkaan will submerge in the Upraising Project starting year 2012. However, Dam authorities and AJK Govt have been very generous with the compensations to the effectees. Presently, almost all the families of Mohra Malkaan are constructing their homes in the New Town which is fully developed and is one of the best towns (if not the best) of Dadyal. The houses of following families are being constructed: Ch Tassab, Haji Shafi, Namberdar Noor Hussain, Munshi Nazeer Hussain, Ch Fazal Karim, Ch Shahzad Akbar, Ch Mushtaq, Ch Ilyas, Chairman Shabbir, Ch Liaqat, Ch Younis, Ch Riasab etc. Mohra Malkaan is likely to be evacuated in next two to three months but its inhabitants will never forget it and will keep visiting it when water recedes. Luckily, nature favored and Mangla Dam receded after just touching the level 1207; thus giving the chance to people to complete the construction of their homes in New Town.