Bulldozer Terror: Mehbooba Says Modi Government Using The Anti-Encroachment Drive As A Weapon To Suppress People In J&K

India Tomorrow

NEW DELHI—Shunning inhibitions on `bulldozer terror’, former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti on Monday said the anti-encroachment drive in Jammu and Kashmir is being used as a “weapon to suppress the people”.

Addressing a news conference at the Press Club of India here, Mehbooba said they are not against the government’s move to retrieve the land from land grabbers, but people’s livelihood should not be affected.

Mehbooba said the government is trying to divert attention from the central issue of statehood, restoration of Article 370, and other things. “We want a complete solution to the Kashmir issue,” she said

She alleged that the Modi government has doled out 45,000 hectares of land to a conman while people in Jammu and Kashmir are being thrown out of their homes.

“Bulldozers are being used to demolish poor people’s houses, who have been living there for ages. The government is taking their land, saying they had illegally occupied it. The government is not talking about the conman, who has been given 45,000 hectares of land,” said Mehbooba.

She appealed to leaders of opposition parties to raise their voices in support of the people of Jammu and Kashmir, who allegedly suffered at the government’s hands.

Mehbooba said the government is not taking action against China which has occupied a 20000 sq km area but rendering its own people homeless.

Mehbooba asserted that the Modi government had started the demolition drive because Rahul Gandhi had a successful rally. “It is vengeance,” she said.

Earlier in its monthly newsletter, ‘Speak Up’, released on Sunday, PDP said that in the past three years, “the only reforms we have received from the Centre are land laws because for GOI (Government of India) it will always be about the land”.

“Even Ladakhis that were happy with the abrogation (of Article 370) are feeling buyer’s remorse as they realize GOI has duped them. For over a year now, they have been demanding statehood and special status as per the 6th schedule. Before the abrogation, Ladakhis had precedence over government jobs and land ownership rights. Their leaders have also finally acknowledged that they were much better off as a part of J-K,” the party said.

Earlier, another former chief minister and National Conference vice-president, Omar Abdullah, said bulldozers should be the last resort, and people should be given a chance to prove their claim on the land. He said proper notices should be issued to the people possessing state land illegally.

He said National Conference was not against those who have grabbed State land, but “a proper procedure should be followed.”

“In J&K, there is chaos everywhere. Bulldozers are being sent everywhere to demolish houses, complexes, and buildings. But nobody knows what the procedure is and on what basis this demolition drive is being conducted,” said Omar.