'A New Low': As Centre Changes 7 Decades Old Land Laws in J&K, Local Parties, People Feel ‘Betrayed’

Srinagar: The Centre on Tuesday introduced fresh land laws and repealed some historic ones in Jammu and Kashmir that had given control of small tracks of land to poor and agriculturalists seven decades back. The BJP government has also done away with the historic Big Land Estate Abolition Act, 1950 — under which the Sheikh Abdullah-led government, had distributed and shared land with the poor local tenants. The People’s Alliance for Gupkar Declaration — an umbrella of seven mainstream parties that have pledged to fight for reversal of Article 370 — condemned the repeal of the J&K land laws equating it with stripping the permanent residents of erstwhile state of exclusive rights to acquire immovable property. “The repeal of the Big Estates Abolition Act — the first ever agrarian reform in the subcontinent — is an insult to the sacrifices of thousands of freedom fighters and farmers who fought against autocratic and oppressive rule and a crude attempt to rewrite history.” Former chief ministers Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti also said the move was unacceptable and aimed at disempowering the local residents. From the unconstitutional scrapping of Article 370 to facilitating loot of our natural resources & finally putting land in J&K up for sale.— Mehbooba Mufti October 27, 2020 The Big Land Estates Abolition Act The Act was implemented in 1950 by Kashmir’s tallest leader Sheikh Abdullah under what was then called the Naya Kashmir programme.