Jammu and Kashmir was one of the largest princely states before partition, even after independence, despite the vast area illegally occupied by Pakistan, now known as POJK. Due to the abundance of natural beauty throughout Jammu and Kashmir, the region should have played a significant role in its transformation into a popular tourist destination. A peek into history will reveal that whoever occupied the seat of power treated the state as personal property. The saner voices of Jammu and Kashmir were stifled by this attitude and special status. Politicians and the bureaucratic nexus played havoc as state land and resources were plundered beyond one’s imagination. Jammu City was only limited from Panthirthi to Gumat at the time of partition, with massive gates installed that were closed at night. The same was the situation in Srinagar, at one time both capital cities had one police station each, ‘City Thanna’ at Jammu and ‘Kothi Bagh’ at Srinagar. Cities expanded, municipalities were formed, and gradually, the wheel of development should have taken Jammu and Kashmir to dazzling heights of progress and development. But so-called leaders of the masses were busy amassing their assets. State lands were leased for peanuts, and adjacent lands just encroached. When all this was going on, GoI was a mute spectator, just turning a blind eye to every wrongdoing of the state’s ruling class. Bureaucrats also plunged into this Ponzi scheme, with the result that lakhs of kanals of land are now illegally encroached upon. Practically, there is no land for development projects. All town planning agencies, including the JDA, Housing Board, Municipalities, and Revenue Department, failed to develop legal colonies, instead working hand in hand with encroachers to create a network of illegal colonies on state land, agricultural land, nullahs, wetlands, and any other land that no town planner will allow for colonization but has been encroached on with impunity. All this has cascading effects; electricity, water, roads, and resources cannot be planned for illegal colonies. Wrong projections result in chaotic results.
GoI and LG Administration have taken the matter seriously; lines have been drawn, and respective DCs and SSPs have been given clear-cut instructions. All DCs have to give daily projections, and by evening, compliance reports are thoroughly vetted by Divisional Commissioners. LG himself is monitoring the whole operation, and clear-cut instructions are there; no poor or rightful owner is made to suffer. The law of the land has to be established, and the efforts of the LG Administration in this direction are very much appreciated by the masses. The affected politicians and influential people are attempting to incite the public with false rumours and illogical reasoning, but this will not work any longer. The public is ecstatic, eagerly awaiting the next big catch. Authorities are punishing anyone who has ever encroached on the land, whether opposition or ruling class and they must now face the music of demolition. Sooner or later, every encroacher will get evicted.
It will be much more appreciated if all the encroachers are also booked as per the law; leaving them scot-free will deliver only part of the justice. Officials involved in this nexus must also be investigated, including how respective DCs, Revenue officials, and police officers in charge permitted these illegal activities. The Government must initiate action against them; an example has to be set for future generations, no one is above the law.
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