Excelsior Correspondent
SRINAGAR, May 20: Deputy Chief Minister Surinder Chowdhary today condemned the demolition drive in Jammu’s Sidhra area and expressed hope that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah would intervene to ensure justice for the affected families.
Speaking to reporters during a public gathering at Uri in north Kashmir’s Baramulla district, Chowdhary described the demolition as “a day that should not have come” and said several families had been left homeless despite living there for years.
“The government strongly condemns this,” he said and urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah to intervene and ensure that the affected families are compensated and their houses are rebuilt.
Chowdhary said the issue was not related to any religion or community but was a matter of “humanity.” He said the residents had built their homes with great difficulty over many years. “It is not about whether they were Gujjars, Bakarwals, Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs or Christians. The point is about humanity,” he said.
The DyCM said authorities should have stopped the construction earlier if it was illegal. “If the construction was illegal, why were they not stopped at that time. Today, you have made those people homeless. Small children were crying,” he said.
Chowdhary also said the officers involved in the demolition drive, including police and senior bureaucrats, were not under the administrative control of the elected Jammu and Kashmir government. “The IPS and IAS officers, as well as the police, are not under our control. Their transfers, postings and promotions are not in our hands,” he said.
He said Chief Minister Omar Abdullah had taken strong notice of the matter and hoped the Prime Minister and Home Minister would intervene. “We hope the Prime Minister and Home Minister will ensure justice,” he said.
Chowdhary further claimed that preliminary information suggested the land was government land and not forest land, alleging that forest officials had “entered there for no reason.”
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