Farmer and Left Groups Protest Land Eviction Order in Jammu and Kashmir
Communist Party of India (Marxist) Leaders Speak Against Land Laws Changes in J&K
24-02-2023 : On Friday, farmer groups and Left leaders from Jammu and Kashmir protested at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi, demanding the withdrawal of the land eviction order 2020. The Union Territory administration has launched a drive to retrieve state land from encroachers. The protesters, organized by the All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS) and Jammu and Kashmir Kisan Tehreek (JKKT), also demanded the withdrawal of changes in land laws and said the evictions should be stopped.
CPI-M General Secretary Sitaram Yechury, who was also present at the protest, spoke out against the change in land laws that allows outsiders to buy land in Jammu and Kashmir. He said that the law enacted by Maharaja Hari Singh in 1927, barring outsiders from buying land in J&K, is not exclusive to the region, as many states have similar laws. Yechury accused the administration of conspiring to sell agricultural land to corporates and urged the withdrawal of the land eviction order.
Md. Yusuf Tarigami, CPI-M leader from Jammu and Kashmir, also criticized the administration for carrying out evictions without consulting local bodies. Tarigami questioned why elections were not being held in the Union Territory, even though the delimitation exercise is over. He said that small farmers should not be evicted if they are cultivating common land or have made small houses.
The land eviction order is related to the Jammu and Kashmir State Land (Vesting of Ownership to Occupants) Act, 2001, which granted ownership of Jammu and Kashmir state lands to unauthorized occupants of those lands. On October 9, 2020, the high court of J&K and Ladakh declared the Act illegal, unconstitutional, and unsustainable, and ordered a CBI probe. Later, the government decided to retrieve such land, and evictions are being carried out.
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