'J&K is now up for sale': Kashmir parties lambast new land rules

Political parties in Jammu and Kashmir have reacted sharply to the order by the Centre on Tuesday allowing any Indian citizen to buy land in the Union territory.

The Ministry of Home Affairs has notified the Jammu and Kashmir Re-organisation (Adaptation of Central Laws) Third Order, 2020, which repealed 11 J&K  laws regarding land ownership, including the Jammu and Kashmir Alienation Of Land Act (V of Samvat 1995), the Jammu and Kashmir Big Landed Estates Abolition Act ( XVII Samvat 2007) , The Jammu and Kashmir Common Lands (Regulation) Act, 1956.

Unlike in the past, the order will not apply to Ladakh which was separated from Jammu and Kashmir and granted the UT status in last August.

People’s Alliance for Gupkar Declaration (PAGD), an alliance of six J&K regional parties for the restoration of Article 370 and statehood to Jammu and Kashmir, termed the order a huge betrayal.  

PAGD spokesman Sajad Lone said: “This is a massive assault on the rights of the people of Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh and grossly unconstitutional.’’ 

“The repeal of Big Estates Abolition Act, the first ever agrarian reform in subcontinent, is an insult to the sacrifices of thousands of freedom fighters and farmers, who fought against an autocratic and oppressive rule, and a crude attempt to rewrite history,’’ Lone said in a statement.

“The order made in exercise of powers under Reorganisation Act, 2019, it is stated, is yet another brazen violation of the principal of constitutional proprietary of fundamental importance to a constitutional democracy,” he said.

Lone added that with a serious challenge to the August 5, 2019 decisions before the Supreme Court and the vires of the Reorganisation Act under judicial scrutiny, the central government is under an obligation to desist from such acts, out of respect for the apex court. 

National Conference vice president and former J&K chief minister Omar Abdullah said that small land holding owners will suffer after the new order.

“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 tweeted.

PDP president and former J&K chief minister Mehbooba Mufti said New Delhi has “finally put land in J&K up for sale”

Mufti said the new laws are part of the “Government of India’s nefarious designs to disempower and 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,” she said in a tweet.

“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,” Mufti further said.

J&K Apni Party president Altaf Bukhari in a statement said they would study the gazette notification issued by the Centre with regard to land rights in the Union territory and would take up its reservations before the top leadership in the country.

After the scrapping of Article 370, the Centre in March had issued a gazette notification for the adaptation of 37 central laws in the concurrent list for J&K. In April, the home ministry ordered adaptation of Jammu and Kashmir state laws, now called Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation (Adaptation of State Laws) Order, 2020. Out of 138 state laws, 25 have been repealed as whole while other laws have been adopted with substitutes. The Centre added a “domicile” clause in the Jammu and Kashmir Civil Services (Decentralisation and Recruitment Act). 

Observers believe that repealing of law regarding ownership of land rights has effectively bypassed the domicile law issued by the Centre in March that said only those who have been living in the UT for at least 15 years or have served in any capacity as employees of the Central government or in any Public Sector Undertaking (PSU) are entitled to register for a domicile certificate. The law said those who have passed their 8th or 10th class examination in the UT are also entitled to domicile certificate. The domicile certificate is mandatory for applying for jobs in Jammu and Kashmir.