By: Mohd Amin Mir
In the complex and often contested terrain of land governance in Jammu & Kashmir, the question of Shamilat land—or village commons—remains one of the most underexamined yet deeply consequential issues. Codified under Section 4 of the Jammu and Kashmir Village Common Lands (Regulation) Act, these lands are legally owned by the government but traditionally used by local communities for collective needs: village footpaths, cattle grazing grounds, stream banks, graveyards, and public gathering spaces.
Today, however, these communal assets are witnessing a systematic and silent erosion—both in the legal sense and in the moral compact they once represented. From the northern reaches of Kupwara to the plains of Kathua, and from Pulwama to Poonch, Shamilat land is being encroached upon, sold illegally, and converted for private use—often with little resistance from institutional mechanisms.
This essay examines the issue through the lenses of law, administration, and community ethics, and offers a pathway for the restoration of what are, in essence, the spatial anchors of rural lif
Understanding Shamilat Land: A Legacy of Collective Ownership
Shamilat land—sometimes referred to as Shamilat deh—originates from pre-Independence rural customs and is codified in law as land held in common for the benefit of village inhabitants. Typically, it includes:
Village footpaths and inner roads
Riverbeds, springs, and embankments
Common grazing grounds (charand)
Burial grounds (qabristan)
Playgrounds and water reservoirs
Such lands are not privately owned; rather, they are recorded in revenue documents as Sarkari zameen—with the government as titular owner and the community as beneficiary. Panchayats, Lumberdars, and Revenue authorities were once entrusted with their protection.
However, a combination of weakened oversight, lack of updated cadastral records, and the declining functional role of traditional village officials has rendered these lands acutely vulnerable to encroachment.
Encroachment as Structural Betrayal
Encroachment on Shamilat land is not merely a matter of administrative negligence; it represents a structural and civic betrayal. In many instances, encroachment begins subtly—by extending private courtyards or fencing off a few feet of open ground. Over time, entire kanals are absorbed into private holdings, often with the tacit acceptance of neighbours and village elders.
More concerning is the phenomenon of secondary illegality: encroachers selling these lands to third parties, using fabricated revenue entries, manipulated inteqals, and forged Tatima maps. This creates a shadow land economy—beyond the pale of legal scrutiny—where residential colonies, orchards, shops, and even hotels are built on government land.
These transactions are subsequently insulated from accountability by stays obtained through lower courts, political patronage, or forged evidence of “settled possession.” What should have remained as public trust assets are quietly turned into private commodities.
A Territory-Wide Phenomenon
The issue is not geographically confined.
In Anantnag, for example, tracts of Shamilat land along watercourses such as the Bringi Nallah have been converted into parking spaces and private lawns. In Kupwara, grazing lands in Lolab and Handwara are under private enclosures, fenced off by those now claiming possession by “continuous use.” In Pulwama, instances of burial grounds being encroached have triggered local unrest. Even some religious and charitable organisations, under the pretext of public interest, have been accused of such occupations.
In Jammu’s urban peripheries, common lands designated for community cattle grazing have been sold as commercial plots or misused for industrial sheds.
What unites these cases is not just the physical encroachment but a breakdown of institutional resistance—the weakening of the very custodianship role that the Revenue Department was created to uphold
Institutional Failure and Legal Paralysis
The Revenue Department, tasked with field verification, record maintenance, and land classification, finds itself hamstrung. While some officers do raise concerns, they face serious impediments:
Stay orders based on forged or misleading documentation
Political or social pressure from locals
Lack of updated Jamabandis and digitized Tatimas, which makes physical demarcation nearly impossible
A near-total absence of spot girdawari (field verification of crop and land use), which has become a lost practice in many tehsils
These conditions foster a culture of legal ambiguity and administrative delay, allowing illegal occupations to harden into claims of ownership.
Courts, meant to serve as instruments of justice, sometimes inadvertently reinforce the status quo. Encroachers secure interim injunctions that freeze administrative action. By the time litigation concludes, illegal structures are often complete, inhabited, and integrated into local economic systems—rendering demolition politically sensitive and legally complex.
Losing Commons, Losing Community
The encroachment of Shamilat land is not simply a technical or legal issue; it constitutes the erasure of a village’s shared memory and infrastructure.
Children are left without playgrounds.
Cattle have no grazing land, increasing the financial burden on marginal farmers.
Burial grounds shrink, triggering intra-community disputes.
Footpaths are blocked, creating daily frictions that spill into courtrooms.
Streams and ponds are filled in or diverted, affecting local hydrology.
In short, when commons are lost, communities are fragmented. The physical disintegration of shared spaces mirrors a deeper social erosion
What Can Be Done: Towards a Multi-Tiered Reform
- Village-Wise Demarcation through Modern Technology
Using drone surveys, GPS mapping, and on-ground consultation with local officials, every village’s Shamilat land must be clearly delineated, digitized, and preserved in Revenue and Panchayat records.
- Creation of Public Shamilat Registers
Every Panchayat Ghar should maintain a laminated and publicly accessible register of Shamilat land, countersigned by the Tehsildar, and updated annually.
- Criminalisation of Illegal Sale and Purchase
Encroachment followed by resale should be treated as a criminal offense. Sections 420 (cheating), 468 (forgery), and 447 (criminal trespass) of the Indian Penal Code must be applied alongside provisions of the J&K Revenue Act.
- Revival of Traditional Oversight Mechanisms
The roles of Chowkidars and Lumberdars—village-level informants—should be formally revived. Their monthly reports on misuse of Shamilat land must be made compulsory and incentivised.
- Establishment of Dedicated Shamilat Tribunals
Fast-track quasi-judicial bodies should be created to deal specifically with Shamilat land disputes, empowered to order demolition, compensation, and criminal prosecution within a stipulated time frame.
- Public Communication and Social Awareness
Government and civil society must run awareness campaigns across radio, social media, and newspapers to sensitise the public. Encroaching on commons is not survival—it is theft from one’s own community.
A Moral Call to Action
It must be said unambiguously: Voluntary vacation of encroached Shamilat land is not just legally prudent—it is morally essential. Those who occupy pathways, graveyards, and grazing fields today may themselves one day find no path to their fields, or no ground for their final rites.
States like Punjab and Haryana have shown that government-led reclamation drives can succeed when backed by legal clarity and administrative will. Jammu & Kashmir must take lessons.
Conclusion: Reclaiming the Idea of the Village
To restore Shamilat land is to restore not merely the government’s property, but the ethical centre of village life. Commons are not just about geography—they are about trust, reciprocity, and shared futures.
A society that passively watches its commons disappear is one that has abdicated responsibility. But one that rises to restore them affirms its civic identity and inter-generational compact.
Let this be the moment when Jammu & Kashmir chooses the latter.
Mohd Amin Mir is a columnist and land policy analyst based in South Kashmir. He writes frequently on rural governance, land rights, and administrative reforms in Jammu & Kashmir.
