Prominent politician Zaffer Mir (Lasjan) on Monday welcomed the J&K government’s decision to pause the ongoing land eviction drive in the region until a suitable policy that will protect the rights of the common people is formulated.
In his statement to the press, Zaffer commended the government’s decision to consolidate the retrieved land and formulate a comprehensive land policy that would regulate ownership rights for the common and deserving sections of society.
Zaffer noted that the government’s decision would bring relief to the general masses on the ground as they have been living in uncertainty and non-accountability for 30 long years while persistently requesting the regularization of the land.
“None of this chaos would have happened if the land rights were formally regularised under law but their pleas were outrightly ignored in the past. Regrettably, the public welfare had never been a priority list of the traditional political parties of J&K,” he remarked.
Zaffer strongly criticized the previous coalition governments in J&K, including the BJP-PDP, NC-INC, and PDP-INC governments, for being impervious and exploitative. He accused them of letting the common people to suffer under a chronic corrupt system besides arguing that the ongoing land drive has only added salt to their existing wounds.
Zaffer suggested that the government should create Tehsil level committees for the demarcation & conferring the entitlement rights of the land where common people have been living for many decades.
“The formulation of a comprehensive welfare policy under relatable Govt. schemes are highly imperative at this important juncture. This will protect the common and deserving occupants from being exploited and shall regularize their small plots in the revenue records for which they had waited for so many years but nobody had ever given a patient ear to their unending woes,” he said.
Zaffer asserted that by taking such a necessary measures the mischievous elements present in society will not succeed in disrupting the peace & stability in the region as they leverage on the panic & alienation among the common masses which has risen in view of the existing demolition drive.
Moreover, Zaffer urged government agencies such as the Anti-corruption bureau to keep a vigilant eye on the revenue department, which has become ridden with corruption and lacks accountability.
“I must humbly propose that to effectively help the poor out of this situation, the government must take the numberdars and heads of villages committees on board to ensure that the process is transparent and fair for all,” he concluded.
