BJP should focus on retrieving land from China rather than on J&K’s locals: Mehbooba Mufti

The former Chief Minister said the L-G administration’s eviction drive was another weapon employed against the people of J&K

Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) president Mehbooba Mufti on Wednesday asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to take India’s land back from China rather than evicting poor locals of J&K from ‘State’ land.

Referring to the ongoing anti-encroachment drive of the J&K Lieutenant Governor (L-G), Ms. Mufti said, ”China has occupied around 2,000 square kilometres of land in Ladakh. PM Modi should focus on that rather than on the locals of J&K.”

“The drive is another weapon employed against the people of J&K. It is like the Public Safety Act, Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA), Enforcement Directorate (ED) etc. that are being used to harass the people of J&K,” Ms. Mufti said.

She appealed to locals not to act as “spectators of neighbours’ demolition”. “People need to speak up,” she added.

Ms. Mufti alleged that the government was employing poor-rich divide to evict people. “What is the poor-rich divide? Poor people are being evicted from Anantnag, Jammu’s Bathindi. This regime tries to divide us as Gujjar-Pahari, Shia-Sunni and now poor-rich. We need to unite the way people of Ladakh are united today,” the former Chief Minister said.

Referring to the eviction of the Nedous family from 40 kanals of land in Srinagar on Tuesday, Ms. Mufti said, “The land had been with them since the Maharaja’s time. It’s unfortunate that it was taken away. Why doesn’t the government act against the Raj Bhawan that is on the State land?”