Furore in J&K over L-G’s move to evict locals from ‘State land’

Hundreds of activists of several political parties hit the streets against the move

An ongoing eviction of locals from land that the Jammu and Kashmir administration describes as “State land” has caused furore across the Union Territory (U.T.) on Monday, with hundreds of activists of several political parties hitting the streets against the move.

The demonstrations were triggered by the administration’s recent directive to Deputy Commissioners to constitute teams of revenue officers for removal of encroachments on a regular basis, and record data on evictions each day, from State lands including Roshni and Kahcharai, before the January 31, 2023 deadline.

Members of the National Conference (NC), the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the Democratic Azad Party (DAP) and the Congress held separate street demonstrations in Jammu on Monday.

“The BJP-led government at the Centre through its proxy administration has fiddled with all the laws of the erstwhile State of J&K, especially land laws. These land laws will allow people from outside J&K and deprive the residents of their due right to use the land,” PDP leader Choudhary Parvez Waffa, who spearheaded a demonstration in Jammu, said.

Ajaz Jan, NC’s youth provincial president, urged the Lieutenant Governor’s administration “to stop harassing the general public in the garb of anti-encroachment drives”.

“The government order to get all the encroachments on State land removed by January 31, 2023 is draconian. A worst phase of misrule is being witnessed by J&K. It has plunged this sensitive region into unprecedented darkness. The proxy government of BJP is pursuing anti-people policies and arbitrarily issuing orders one after the other to further its anti-people agenda,” Mr. Jan said.

He said the majority of land, described as State land by the administration, is being used by the poor and economically weaker sections of the society. “They are mainly using it for agricultural purposes or at the most for shelter,” Mr. Jan added.