SRINAGAR: The new land laws promulgated by the Ministry of Home Affairs are a step further to alienate people and curb their constitutional rights, National Conference MPs, Husnain Masoodi and Mohammad Akbar Lone have said in a statement.
“The incumbent ruling dispensation has defaulted on the assurances of kashmiriyat, Jamhooriyat, and Insaniyat and the new notification is a case in point,” the statement issued by the duo said. “People of Jammu and Kashmir are feeling alienated from rest of the country and harbouring the notion that nobody understands their sentiments saying the new land notification will only lead to the total bewilderment of a whole set of the populace which is not good for the greater interests of the country in general and Jammu and Kashmir in particular.”
The two MPs, according to the party statement said that the new notification abates the rights of the people of Jammu and Kashmir and places them at a lower pedestal than other countrymen. “A mere written request of an Army officer not below the rank of Corp Commander is required to declare an area “strategic” within a local area. Can we have such a measure in place for other civilian areas in the country or for that matter in states situated alongside the international border? Why the people of Jammu and Kashmir are only being singled out and treated as dump-driven cattle. Are the people of Jammu and Kashmir any less human? On one hand, it is being said that the measures taken on 5th of August last year by the Government of India were to bring Jammu and Kashmir at par with other constituent units of the country, but in reality, Jammu and Kashmir is being converted into a garrison,” the statement quoted Husnain saying.
Taking exception to the propaganda of the government on the demerits of the special status of Jammu and Kashmir, the MPs have said that it was a bogey to hoodwink people. “Do other states like Himachal Pradesh have no investment? The industrial growth argument is a big bogey. In Jammu, there were big industries before abrogation. The problem for setting up MNCs or other infrastructure is not Article 370 but the situation of the valley. The BJP and the RSS do not want a Muslim majority state in this country. This is their agenda of Akhand Bharat and the new land notification is a measure aimed to meet that end,” they said.
The new land notification, they added people fear will bring demographic change and alter the character of Jammu and Kashmir. “Having a Muslim majority state within the union of India has always been an eyesore to the ruling dispensation and its ilk. New Land Rules have made it clear that they want to wipe out the character of J&K. The order is not inclusive in its discrimination. Voices of concern are being heard in Jammu and Ladakh as well. The people of Jammu are unhappy with this land ownership system because they know before it affects Kashmir, it will affect them,” they said.
