The chairman of the Democratic Azad Party and former chief minister Ghulam Nabi Azad on Wednesday called on home minister Amit Shah at Delhi and apprised the latter about serious unrest being caused among the people of Jammu and Kashmir due to eviction notices issued to them by the UT administration.
“Met Union home minister Amit Shah regarding land eviction issue in J&K. Apprised him about the prevailing unrest and uncertainty among the common man who are forced to vacate the properties which are otherwise recognised by successive regimes. Shah assured me no small land holders who constructed houses will be touched,” Azad wrote on his Facebook page on Thursday.
“Azad called upon Shah yesterday and apprised him about the situation of serious unrest and uncertainty prevailing among the public at large in the UT of 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,” read a statement on his Facebook page.
Azad requested the home minister that the majority of occupants who are holding small lands and have constructed houses for the last few decades are migrants and are mostly victims of militancy as well as victims of abnormal situations arisen from time to time, being a border state.
“The origin of these shelters/residential houses on state, Kahcharai and roshni lands, appears to have taken place first in 1947 and then in the 1962 & 1971 war period, and subsequently, during the post militancy period. This is also a fact that the governments provided road connectivity, supply of water & 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 recognised these constructions,” Azad stated.
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 will not be harassed,” read the statement.
Two weeks earlier, Azad had taken up the same issue with LG Manoj Sinha also, who too had assured to do the needful with cogent land policy to small land holders sympathetically.
