Land Eviction in Jammu and Kashmir: People in panic, fear and apprehension 

In the union territory of Jammu and Kashmir, lands are retrieved by the government from people by bulldozing their homes and buildings. The government claims not to trouble the underprivileged, but it exclusively demands land owned by the wealthy and influential who have grabbed government property because of their influence.

In Jammu and Kashmir, the government reclaims encroached state land from local people by bulldozing their homes and buildings, making many people homeless.

People are apprehensive about the situation as the documents and the leases are undervalued. Despite the fact that the government has promised to assist the poor, locals don’t tend to consume it. 

In the last three weeks, about a hundred government canals have been recaptured from residents by bulldozing their homes and lives. Even while thousands of people protested, Jammu authorities continued their anti-encroachment drive on state and community land in every district of Jammu and Kashmir.

Jammu and Kashmir in distress

According to court documents, 20,46,436 canals of state land are under illegal occupation. Manoj Sinha, J&K lieutenant governor has assured the common man that he “won’t be touched”. “Only state land under the control of powerful and influential people who have seized government property due to their influence will be reclaimed,” he stated.

According to J&K Chief Secretary Arun Kumar Mehta, the encroached state land is being retrieved solely for public use and benefit. The recovered land will be used to construct public utilities such as hospitals, schools, playgrounds, bus stops, industries, and parking lots.

Protests as evictions accelerate

Members of various political parties, including the Congress, the People’s Democratic Party, the Apni Party, and the Democratic Azad Party, have protested the administration’s land eviction drive in Jammu and Kashmir.

Protesters gathered in large numbers and were seen raising slogans criticising the government’s actions.

According to various news reports, individuals flocked to the streets in Jammu’s Sunjwan, Bathindi, and Narwal Bypass areas, waving tricolour flags and yelling at the authorities for making them homeless.

To stop the drive, residents in Bathindi, Jammu, stone-pelted and attacked earthmovers and bulldozers. The anti-encroachment drive recovered approximately 23,000 hectares of state and ‘kacharai’ land from various districts throughout the territory.

Ghulam Nabi Azad, former chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir and chairman of the Democratic Azad Party, prompted Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha to issue a written order instructing officials not to trouble the poor with small land holdings.