New Delhi: Chairman Democratic Azad Party (DAP) and the former Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad called upon Union Home Minister Amit Shah on February 1 and raised “land eviction issue leading to a situation of unrest and uncertainty in J&K.”
He requested the Home Minister that at least poor people having small holdings of land and houses should be spared from the eviction drive. “The Home Minister assured Azad that small land holders would not be harassed,” a statement, issued by DAP, said.
“Azad apprised him (Home Minister) about the situation of serious unrest and uncertainty prevailing among the public at large in J&K, due to the circular of eviction issued by the UT administration directing all Deputy Commissioners to remove the encroachments on state land including Roshni and Kacharai,” it added.
Azad requested the Home Minister that the majority of occupants who were holding small lands and had constructed houses during the last few decades were migrants and were mostly victims of militancy, as well as victims of abnormal situations arisen from time to time, being a border state, the statement mentioned.
“The origin of these shelters or residential houses on state-kacharai and Roshni lands appears to have taken place first in 1947 and then in the 1962 and 1971 war period, and subsequently during the post militancy period. This is also a fact that the governments have provided road connectivity, supply of water and electricity, schools, Anganwadi centres and other welfare schemes including health related facilities to these houses from time to time which implicitly indicates that successive state governments in a way have recognized these constructions,” the former Chief Minister told the Union Home Minister.
It is worthwhile to mention here that two weeks earlier Azad had taken up the same issue with the Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha also, who too had assured to do the needful with cogent land policy to small land holders sympathetically, the statement added.
