Srinagar: The Jammu and Kashmir National Conference on Sunday stated that the ongoing demolition drive is deepening the despair of poor and rightful landowners across Jammu and Kashmir.
Pointing to the new disturbing trend of arbitrary acts of demolishing homes and structures, the party’s In Charge constituencies of Srinagar district Ali Muhammad Sagar, Mubarak Gul, Shameema Firdous, Irfan Shah, Tanvir Sadiq, Ahsan Pardesi, Mushtaq Guroo, and Salman Ali Sagar issued a joint statement saying the measure has compounded the vulnerabilities of marginalized traders, women, children, senior citizens, socially and economically downtrodden.
Causing immense distress, the eight segments In Charges said that the ongoing bulldozer rampage has created a humanitarian crisis. “The worrying trend of state demolishing homes, business units, and shops violates all due norms and established human rights procedures,” they added.
The leaders reiterated that the government should make the bulldozer its last resort, give people a chance to prove their claim, and issue proper notices to the people having illegal possession of State land. “The ongoing bulldozer rampage has been carried out by government agencies professedly to ‘clear encroachments’ and remove ‘illegal structures’ from public land. However, the state authorities have used this reasoning to select and demolish settlements arbitrarily. All we seek is strict adherence to due process and ensuring that informed demolition. The wanton rampage, it goes without saying, will only disproportionately affect marginalized communities and divest them from accessing the most basic facilities, essential for a life with dignity,” the leaders said.
They said the government should regularise those sitting on the State land if such policies exist in other parts of the country. “This will bring ease in the common man’s life and help the government earn as well,” they added.
Calling out hypocritical condemnation of demolitions by the Apni Party, whose mayor is at forefront of harassing Srinagar residents, the Segment In Charges said, “On one hand we see party chief denounce bulldozer rampage and evictions. On the other hand, the Apni party’s Mayor is at the forefront of the drive. They cannot run with the hare and hunt with the hound. Nothing brings the glaring paradoxes within Apni Party to the fore as this new diktat, asking traders to evict their complexes and shops from Doodh Ganga. They cannot continue to smokescreen the reality with their theatricals. People have seen their masks fall off.”
