Mir Mudasir
The J&K government has launched a major eviction drive, clearing state land from the encroachments. The drive has caused major resentment among common people and politicians who say that the drive will affect poor people possessing small land holdings for living or survival for decades.
Though the Lt Governor, Manoj Sinha has said that poor and common people won’t be touched during the current encroachment land drive, however, there are signs of unease among the people especially those with small landholdings who have constructed small houses on the land.
For many people this is a ploy to snatch their land which has been in their possession for decades. Every day there are protests going on against the decision that has its basis on the High Court order which has asked the government to clear all the encroachments from the state land before January 31. Now the court is monitoring the case on a day to day basis and wants all the encroachments removed within the stipulated time frame. All the Deputy Commissioners have issued orders seeking removal of encroachments from the state land or face the consequences.
Last week, J&K Lt Governor Manoj Sinha said only the state land under powerful and influential people who have grabbed due to their influence will be retrieved.
Sinha told reporters that the court has repeatedly told us to get the state land vacated from those who have encroached it. “The influential people who used their posts to grab the government land by violating law will face action. Common or poor people won’t be touched. The government will make every effort to save the rights of the poor people.”
By using the word influential people in power, Sinha has given hints about politicians and bureaucrats who have got land under their possession through Roshni Act that was passed by state legislative assembly when Ghulam Nabi Azad was the Chief Minister of the erstwhile state. Many politicians especially those close to BJP feel that Roshni was a big scam.
The land issue is now becoming big in J&K and almost all the political parties are opposed to this drive.
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. Apart from that the government officials claim that thousands of kanals of land, especially state land or Gasecharia has been grabbed by people for years. In the last week, many such encroachments have already been removed.
The Jammu and Kashmir High Court had on October 9, 2020 declared the Roshni Act as the Act “illegal, unconstitutional and unsustainable”, and ordered a CBI probe into the allotment of land under this law.
Former J&K chief minister Mehbooba Mufti sees a ploy in these new government orders.
“Laws are created for the welfare of the 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,” said PDP president, Mehbooba Mufti in a tweet.
Even the politicians who are considered close to New Delhi have raised questions on these drives.
Apni Party president Altaf Bukhari alleged harassment of common people by the bureaucracy of Jammu and Kashmir in the name of clearing the state and grazing land from encroachments.
Bukhari said that an impression is being created that J&K residents will be driven out and outsiders will be brought here but assured that not an inch of land will be given to outsiders (for residential purposes).
“Govt has issued orders (to evict) people in possession of state land illegally or even the land on lease which has expired. These days, there are attempts to harass people more by such orders. I want to request LG that we all know the law but the way this law is shown is that perhaps you have come out with bulldozers and 50 percent people are on state land of different categories in villages,” he said adding that an impression is being created that somehow the situation should be worsened here and unfortunately our own bureaucracy is trying to be more loyal than the king.
“Not all but some officers are harassing people. I request those officers to mend their ways. These are common people and you have no right to harass them,” he said.
Bukhari said that he talked to LG Manoj Sinha and Home Minister Amit Shah over the issue. “LG made it clear that no poor people or shopkeepers will be affected. On meeting the home minister, he also assured but he said if someone has grabbed large chunks of land violently, that land can be used for some other purposes,” he said.
Bukhari said that J&K youth should be given first right over the land retrieved.
“I will appeal to the government that the land being retrieved, our youth should be given first right on that. Similarly if trees are on some state land, what is the use of chopping them down or wasting them?” he said.
He said that LG’s intentions can be good. “We are not saying to spare land grabbers but there should not be injustice as well. An impression is being created that J&K residents will be driven out and outsiders will be brought here,” he said.
People’s Conference chairman, Sajjad Lone urged J&K Lt Governor, Manoj Sinha to issue an unambiguous order about safeguarding the poor people who are under the state land possession.
“J&K People’s Conference President Sajad Gani Lone wrote to Lt. Governor Manoj Sinha urging him to issue a formal, unambiguous order, which spares the poor and makes a distinction between possession borne out of necessity and possession borne out of land grab,” People’s Conference spokesman said.
In the letter PC chairman, Sajjad Lone had said. “The possession in the rural areas is borne of necessity. This is a practice which has gone on unhindered for decades. And no government ever challenged it because it made J&K a unique state, where there is almost negligible homelessness. The vast majority of possession in the rural areas comprises small land holdings with a small humble house made by the owners. These small land holdings are scattered. They will be of no use to the government. But they will make a poor family homeless.”
Lone sought a formal order from the Lt Governor about poor people.
“You have been gracious in announcing that the poor will not be touched. I am writing to request you to issue a formal unambiguous order, which spares the poor and makes a distinction between possession borne out of necessity and possession borne out of land grab.”
However there are many who say land from powerful people should be freed.
City Mayor, Junaid Azim Mattu said that 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.”
Meanwhile the newly established party of former J&K chief minister Ghulam Nabi Azad (DAP) is holding protests against these land eviction drives on a daily basis in UT.
