Srinagar, Feb 2 (IANS) Ghulam Nabi Azad, Chairman, Democratic Azad Party (DAP) met Home Minister Amit Shah in Delhi to take up the land eviction issue, said the party on Thursday.
During the meeting, which took place on Wednesday, Azad apprised Shah of the situation of serious ‘unrest and uncertainty’ prevailing among the public following the circular of eviction issued by the UT administration, a statement by the DAP mentioned.
The circular directs all Deputy Commissioners to remove encroachments on state land, including Roshni and Kacharai.
“Ghulam Nabi Azad requested the Home Minister that the majority of occupants holding small lands and have constructed houses for the last few decades are migrants and are mostly victims of militancy, as well as victims of abnormal situations arising from time to time, being a border state.
“The origin of these shelters/residential houses on state-kacharai and Roshni lands appears to have taken place first in 1947 and then in the 1962 and 1971 war period, and subsequently during the post-militancy period. This is also a fact that the governments provided road connectivity, supply of water and electricity, schools, anganwadi centres and other welfare schemes, including health related facilities to these houses from time to time which implicitly indicates that successive state governments in a way have recognised these constructions.”
The statement said Azad requested the home minister that at least poor people having small holdings of land and houses should be spared from the eviction drive.
“The Home Minister assured Azad that small land holders will not be harassed. It is worthwhile to mention here that two weeks earlier Azad had taken up the same issue with Lt. Governor Manoj Sinha also, who too had assured to do the needful with cogent land policy to small land holders sympathetically,” the statement added.
