Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU/SRINAGAR, Oct 28: Several political parties and senior leaders today condemned the amendments to J&K land laws to allow people from outside the Union Territory to buy land there, and pledged to fight it on all fronts.
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National Conference MPs Mohammad Akbar Lone and Hasnain Masoodi said that the new land notification will only lead to total bewilderment of a whole set of populace which is not good for the greater interests of the country in general, and J&K in particular. The new land notification they added people fear will bring demographic change and alter the character of Jammu and Kashmir.
Jammu and Kashmir Pradesh Congress Committee (JKPCC) president Ghulam Ahmad Mir said his party rejects the new land laws notified by the Centre for the Union Territory. “The new land law is another gift of BJP to people of J&K. The Congress party rejects the new land laws and vows to fight for protection of rights,” Mir said addressing a public gathering in Gurez area of Bandipora district.
In Jammu, JKPCC leaders including Raman Bhalla, Ravinder Sharma, Yogesh Sahni and others termed the new land law another deceit of the ruling party with people of J&K in which Jammu region shall be the worst sufferer. They said that the party will fight for restoration of full statehood with adequate constitutional and legal safeguards for the rights to land, jobs etc.
Terming the new land law atrocious and provocative, former Union Minister Prof Saif-ud-Din Soz said if the new land law is not withdrawn forthwith, the people of J&K will raise their strong voice which will be heard throughout the world. That situation will further internationalize the Kashmir issue, he added.
Apni Party, in a meeting of its office bearers held in Lal Chowk-Srinagar, said that the amendments that have been made to the J&K land laws are arbitrary in nature and are totally unacceptable to the people of J&K. Party general secretary Rafi Ahmad Mir expressed that the new land laws are unfortunately in total contradiction with the commitments made by the Prime Minister and Union Home Minister with the people of J&K.
The People’s Democratic Party (PDP) staged a protest at party headquarters at Gandhi Nagar in Jammu, demanding repeal of the new land laws. Led by party general secretary Surinder Choudhary, PDP activists holding the Tricolour as well as the party flag marched towards Divisional Commissioner office from party headquarters but were stopped by the police. Later, the protestors dispersed peacefully.
Meanwhile, JKNPP chairman Harshdev Singh too led a protest demonstration near exhibition ground here and rejected the new land laws for J&K. “The BJP time and again assured the people that their right of land and jobs shall be safe guarded at all costs post abrogation of Article 370 but the notification of the obnoxious law has sent ripples and shock waves among the people who are feeling cheated,” Singh said. Amid anti-BJP sloganeering, the activists set ablaze an effigy of the saffron party before leaving.
Former MP and Dogra Swabhimaan Sangthan Party (DSSP) chief Choudhary Lal Singh, while reacting to the newly introduced land laws, said that Jammu province because of its nationalist character should not be treated at par with that of Kashmir. He said the newly introduced land laws needs to be introduced in the Valley only to maintain its age old pluralistic cultural ethos whereas Jammu province needs exemption of these laws.
Two days after resigning from the party, ex-MLC Ved Mahajan, former MP Hussain Ali Waffa and one of the founders of the PDP, Trilok Singh Bajwa strongly condemned new land laws imposed by the Union Government on J&K. “After abrogation of Articles 370 and 35-A, BJP had promised to project job and land rights of the people of J&K but now the party has backtracked from its promise”, they said in a press conference and exhorted that they will take this fight on the streets to project land and jobs rights of the residents of J&K.
Senior vice president of People’s Conference (PC) and former Minister Abdul Gani Vakil termed the new new land laws in Jammu and Kashmir unacceptable. Vakil said amending land laws is the same as rubbing salt on the wounds of people and people will not accept these things. “We will fight democratically and constitutionally to restore the Article 370 which protects the land and jobs here,” Vakil said in a statement.
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