Leaders from different political parties have criticised the Jammu and Kashmir administration’s order seeking vacation of stateland across the union territory (UT) before the end of the month.
The recent order by the government has also sparked protests in different parts of the UT, especially in Jammu where people have been served notices by revenue authorities asking them to vacate the state land or face demolition.
Addressing the same, People Democratic Party (PDP) president Mehbooba Mufti tweeted: “Laws are created for the welfare of public, but in J&K they are weaponised to disempower, humiliate & punish. This latest diktat was issued because despite GOI misusing all the agencies at its disposal & unleashing draconian laws, aren’t getting the desired results.”
Peoples Conference chairperson Sajjad Lone, meanwhile, appealed to the government to “spare the poor people”.
“Who stops you from going after the rich powerful elite? The elites till now are getting away with mere threats. The humbler structures of the poor are abodes born out of necessities. These structures house families, aspirations, dreams, ambitions, emotions, memories,” Lone tweeted.
Echoing the sentiment, Democratic Azad Party general secretary RS Chib said the party on the instructions of chairperson Ghulam Nabi Azad held a peaceful protest against the land eviction order.
Chib said the time has come to stand and fight for rights in Jammu and Kashmir, adding, “The land under Roshni act was allotted to people through the legislature of erstwhile Jammu and Kashmir state. It is unfortunate now that those who benefited from the scheme are forced to vacate the land, despite the matter is subjudice before the high court and the Supreme Court of India.”
{{/usCountry}}Chib said the time has come to stand and fight for rights in Jammu and Kashmir, adding, “The land under Roshni act was allotted to people through the legislature of erstwhile Jammu and Kashmir state. It is unfortunate now that those who benefited from the scheme are forced to vacate the land, despite the matter is subjudice before the high court and the Supreme Court of India.”
{{/usCountry}}“The government cannot force the eviction of the people who have legally obtained the ownership of land. where shall they go in these harsh winters,” he added, before terming the developments a “human rights violation”.
CPI (M) leader Mohammad Yousuf Tarigam also voiced deep concern over the move, saying, “The administration is totally blind towards the destruction of the livelihood of the rural poor. Is this the beginning of the process of “Acche din”?”
City mayor Junaid Azim Mattu said the state land retrieval needs to start from the mighty and the powerful in Srinagar and Jammu — who have built “palaces, showrooms and factories on state land!”
“Going after the poor first might look like cover firing to save the rich cronies of the traditional political mainstream,” the mayor added.
The Jammu and Kashmir State Lands (Vesting of Ownership to Occupants) Act was enacted in 2001 with the twin objective of generating resources for financing power projects and conferment of proprietary rights to occupants of state land.
The Act, popularly known as Roshni scheme, initially envisaged conferment of proprietary rights of around 20.55 lakh Kanals (1,02,750 hectares) to the occupants of which only 15.85 per cent land was approved for vesting of ownership rights. The scheme was finally repealed in 2018.
The Jammu and Kashmir High Court had on October 9, 2020 declared the Act “illegal, unconstitutional and unsustainable”, and ordered a CBI probe into the allotment of land under this law.