Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, May 25: In a subtle attempt to snatch away the land of about 100 odd people belonging to the minority community in the picturesque town of Pahalgam, a section of the officials led by the outgoing Chief Town Planner Iftikhar Hussain has been trying to get it notified as forest land where no construction can be permitted.
The affected people have appealed to the Chief Minister Omar Abdullah to ensure that their land was not taken away apparently under a proper plan by the land mafia so that they are forced to sell it out for peanuts.
They said that in 1943 the then Government under the plan to beautify Pahalgam and preserve its beauty had set up a scenic “bowl”. Those people whose land was acquired for the “bowl” were compensated with the land in the outskirts and adjoining areas.
Those whose land was acquired belonged to both majority and minority communities. With passage of time particularly during the last ten years the people belonging to the majority community, since they were there, constructed houses, hotels and tourist huts in the area, while land belonging to minority community people remained unclaimed.
However, the land belonging to the minority community members remained unattended due to their exodus. With the result it remained unclaimed and uncultivated. The land mafia in connivance with some officials tried to get this land notified as the forest area where no construction can be allowed despite the fact that concrete constructions already existed right in the adjoining space.
They said, when they were compensated in 1943 the land was meant for construction or whatever use they wanted to put it to. And this was very much documented in revenue records that it was not a forest area but the private land owned by people.
The affected people said, this was an attempt by the land mafia to force them to go for distress sale. “There cannot be two set of rules for two different communities”, they pointed out, while adding, on the one hand the Government passed the law against distress sale by the minority community on the other hand situation is being created to force them to go for distress sale.
They hoped that the Chief Minister Omar Abdullah would understand the gravity of the situation and ensure that injustice is not meted out to the people belonging to the minority community.
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