The Jammu and Kashmir land reforms paved the way for outsiders to now purchase land in the Union Territory, thereby fully integrating the region with the rest of India. Expectedly, the move caused huge heartburn amongst the liberal community who yet again made a fool of themselves by opposing the reforms which only exposed their hypocrisy.
In a monumental move that will finally bring much-needed development to the region, the Central Government while notifying new lands laws for Jammu and Kashmir, has brought an end to the exclusive rights of locals over the land granted under the dead letter Article 370.
Under the new Act, the term “being a permanent resident of the State” as a criterion has been “omitted”, thereby allowing outsiders to purchase lands in the region – an attractive proposition for prospective investors.
This move has robbed many of their daily bread and butter especially those who consider Kashmir as their inheritance — Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti.
Omar Abdullah, in a desperate bid to jump back into the limelight, led the way as it termed the amendment to the land ownership laws as “unacceptable” and he claimed that, “J&K was up for sale”.
Unacceptable amendments to the land ownership laws of J&K. Even the tokenism of domicile has been done away with when purchasing non-agricultural land & transfer of agricultural land has been made easier. J&K is now up for sale & the poorer small land holding owners will suffer.
— Omar Abdullah (@OmarAbdullah) October 27, 2020
My short interview to @ShujaUH of @IndiaToday this afternoon after the centre notified new land ownership laws for J&K. https://t.co/7TJHIa572M
— Omar Abdullah (@OmarAbdullah) October 27, 2020
One can understand the junior Abdullah’s shock as just before the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Farooq Abdullah had openly dared PM Modi to repeal Article 370. It seems that the Abdullah family is still reeling from the shock due to the swift moves made by the Modi government which have rendered them completely useless.
Abdullah’s foe turned friend Mehbooba Mufti too, adopted a similar line as she claimed, “J&K was up for sale”. Irony died a thousand deaths as she also accused the Central government of “facilitating the loot of our natural resources”.
Yet another step thats part of GOI’s nefarious designs to disempower & disenfranchise people of J&K. From the unconstitutional scrapping of Article 370 to facilitating loot of our natural resources & finally putting land in J&K up for sale.
— Mehbooba Mufti (@MehboobaMufti) October 27, 2020
It seems that Mehbooba Mufti still thinks that Ladakh is a part of her fiefdom.
After failing on all fronts to provide roti & rozgar to people, BJP is creating such laws to whet the appetite of a gullible electorate. Such brazen measures reinforces the need of people of all three provinces of J&K to fight unitedly .
— Mehbooba Mufti (@MehboobaMufti) October 27, 2020
Devika Mittal suffered a particularly glorious meltdown as she claimed that the new Land Laws are an “act of invasion”. Since when Indian buying land in any part of the country became an “act of invasion”? Mittal also directly towed Pakistan’s line by claiming that the region of J&K is “disputed”.
The "Land Laws" that will allow any citizen of India to buy a piece of land in the disputed region of J&K is an act of invasion. It is an act by a fascist regime that does not believe in dialogue, democracy and human rights. #Landlaws #JammuAndKashmir #Kashmir #Article370
— Devika Mittal देविका मित्तल دیوِیکا مِتّل (@devikasmittal) October 27, 2020
Vijaita Singh adopted a more sombre mode as she wanted the Centre to “wait for a legislature to be in place”. The country has been waiting for this since 1947, just how much more does Vijaita wants the country to wait before fully integrating Jammu and Kashmir with the rest of India.
Land is an emotive issue,not only in J&K but also in other parts of the country. Couldn't the Centre wait for a legislature to be in place rather than arbitrarily making changes to land laws. No public consultation was held:on NDTV last evening.Full link https://t.co/Ln2fI7qOMG pic.twitter.com/rAQr9m6QzG
— Vijaita Singh (@vijaita) October 28, 2020
Busting the widely believed myth that Communists have a wide range of vocabulary, Sitaram Yechury tweeted the same old words that he uses to attack the Modi government on a regular basis. From “highway robbery” to “forceful land acquisition to hand over to the cronies” to “destroyed all people’s democratic structures”, Yechury’s tweet was nothing but a generic communist template.
This is highway robbery.
The loot of J&K's resources & beautiful landscape.
Having destroyed all people’s democratic structures, will the next step be forcible land acquisition to hand over to cronies & fatten the purses of the ruling party at centre?
This cannot be allowed. https://t.co/ObykyNy4Un— Sitaram Yechury (@SitaramYechury) October 27, 2020
The liberals can keep whining and act like mere bystanders as the Modi government swiftly integrates Jammu and Kashmir with the rest of India.
