Azad apprises Home Minister Amit Shah of his dissent over land evictions in Jammu Kashmir

New Delhi, Feb 02: Ghulam Nabi Azad, the Democratic Azad Party chief today met Union Home Minister, Amit Shah and apprised him of the sentiments prevailing among the majority of people who own small plots of land and have built houses over the last few decades. According to Azad, they are migrants who are mostly victims of militancy. Azad reportedly briefed Amit Shah on “land eviction issues” in Jammu and Kashmir. During a recent anti-encroachment drive in different districts of the Jammu division, nearly 23,000 hectares of state and ‘kacharai' land were recovered.
According to a DAP statement, Ghulam Nabi Azad met with Amit Shah to inform him of the “serious unrest and uncertainty prevailing” among the public as a result of the “circular of eviction issued by the UT administration directing all Deputy Commissioners to remove the encroachments on state land, including Roshni and Kacharai.”Azad told the home minister that the majority of people who own small plots of land and have built houses over the last few decades are migrants who are mostly victims of militancy. As per the official daily press reports illegal encroachments to the tune of 14000 hectares of land in Rajouri, followed by over 6,300 hectares in Poonch, over 2,300 in Kishtwar, 16 hectares in Udhampur, and some large chunks of illegally encroached land in Reasi, Ramban, Kathua and Samba districts.Pertinent to recall that it was Ghulam Nabi Azad who as the chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir has facilitated the passing of Roshni Act under which the illegal encroachments over thousands of hectares of state land, in the erstwhile state, was ordered to be regularised against nominal fees. The Roshni Act was later declared null and void by the Jammu Kashmir High Court.