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Jammu: Neighbour steps in with land offer after journalist’s home is razed in demolition drive
Kuldeep Kumar, whose announcement video went viral on social media, has also offered to assist the journalist in the construction.
A day after Jammu Development Authority (JDA) demolished the decrepit house of a social media journalist Arfaz Ahmad Daing in Jammu's Narwal area, a neighbour came forward and offered to gift a piece of land to the affected family, PTI has reported.
Kuldeep Kumar, who visited the family along with his daughter, offered a five-marla plot to the journalist's family in Jammu's Transport Nagar area.
"I am gifting five marlas of land through my daughter to the family so that my brother can rebuild his house," Kumar told reporters, according to PTI.
Kumar, whose announcement video went viral on social media, has also offered to assist the journalist in the construction.
Journalist Arfaz Ahmad Daing's house was bulldozed by the JDA, with the help of the police, on Thursday. According to the JDA, the demolition drive is part of ongoing efforts to clear encroachments from its land across Jammu. A day before, a building was also demolished in Kangan in central Kashmir, as reported by HT.
Daing, who runs the new portal Seher News, has alleged that JDA’s action was carried out without prior notice and was a “message” to the journalists who spoke the truth in the face of the government.
Demolition sparks political controversy
The demolition has also sparked political controversy, with a blame game erupting between the BJP and Chief Minister Omar Abdullah.
Abdullah has accused the lieutenant governor’s administration of politically motivated bulldozer campaigns to “malign” the elected government.
“The officers appointed by Raj Bhawan without seeking permission from an elected government or taking the minister concerned into confidence are using bulldozers. It’s a ploy to defame the elected government," CM Omar Abdullah told reporters in Srinagar, as reported by HT.
“We have been repeatedly saying that staff departments under our domain should be appointed by us. The CEO’s of development authorities should be appointed by the elected government, the revenue staff should also be appointed by the elected government,” CM Omar Abdullah told reporters in Srinagar,” he added.
On the other hand, former Jammu and Kashmir BJP chief Ravinder Raina termed the demolition "selective" and assured full support to the residents.
"I was pained to see this. Our Prime Minister believes in giving houses to the poor, not demolishing them. We will ensure all help," he said while lauding Kuldeep Kumar's gesture as a symbol of Jammu and Kashmir’s harmony.
Raina also trained guns at the Omar Abdullah government for the action saying: “The Lieutenant Governor has not used the bulldozer. I spoke to him and he said no such orders were issued. Where did the order come from? I won’t politicise it.”
He also denied any role of the LG’s administration behind the demolition drive. “LG’s administration has nothing to do with it. He has not taken any action. Neither LG’s administration nor BJP government can be blamed because we are not an elected government in J&K. Only elected government headed by CM Omar Abdullah knows what went wrong,” Raina said.
