Hurriyat Conference slammed India for putting occupied Kashmir on sale

 Indian administration has recently changed land use laws in occupied J&K to allow non- agriculture use of land 

Jammu and Kashmir Hurriyat Conference slammed India’s recent move to allow non-Kashmiris to buy land, saying New Delhi had put up Jammu and Kashmir on sale.

The Indian government and its handpicked administration has held a real estate summit in Jammu (the first of its kind) to encourage people from across the country to buy land, or a second home, in Jammu and Kashmir.

A Hurriyat Conference statement came in reaction to the real estate summit that was held in Jammu on Monday and was attended by J&K Lt Governor Manoj Sinha, Hardeep Singh Puri, Union housing and urban affairs minister and Union MoS Jitendra Singh.

In the summit according to a government statement, top leaders of India’s real estate sector came together and signed 39 MoUs worth INR18,300 crore for investments in residential, commercial, infrastructure and film sectors.

During the summit, J&K governor Manoj Sinha said the next ‘real estate summit’ will be held in Srinagar on May 21 and 22, 2022.

The Hurriyat Conference strongly reacted to the summit. “The Government of India wants to change the demographic character of Muslim majority J&K and disempowered its residents through such diktats and measures.

In order to scuttle the final resolution of the long-standing international political dispute of Kashmir in accordance with the will and aspirations of its people as promised by the international community, based on principles of justice and international law,” said Hurriyat in a statement.

 “Since August 2019, in succession one after other authoritarian laws and diktats are being implemented in J&K towards this end and to facilitate the electoral prospects of the ruling party in India as J&K has become its favourite whipping boy.

 Simultaneously, the ruling dispensation is pursuing the divide and rule policy by dividing the population of J&K on the basis of religions, regions, ethnicities and political interests to fracture political aspirations and voices,” the Hurriyat statement said.

In a statement, Kashmir’s All Parties Hurriyat Conference headed by incarcerated Mirwaiz Umar Farooq said it has “strongly appealed to the international community to take cognisance of the systemic demographic change being foisted upon Muslim majority Jammu & Kashmir, by settling outsiders here including through a new policy of sale of land and natural resources to them.”

APHC said that the situation in J&K is “deeply disconcerting and highly repressive as people are the receiving end of this colonial mindset.” It asked people not to lose hope but stay vigilant and alert “and safeguard their right over their land and resources as much as possible.”

Mainstream pro-India J&K political leaders have also raised concern for putting the land of J&K on “sale” in the name of real estate investment summit.

“Once again, the true intentions of the government are brought to the fore. While offering to secure the land, jobs, domicile laws and identity of the people of Ladakh and J&K are being put up for sale. People of Jammu should be aware, “investors” will buy land in Jammu long before Kashmir,” tweeted NC vice-president Omar Abdullah.

Former J&K chief minister and PDP president Mehbooba Mufti termed the summit “sale of the resources of J&K”.

“J&Ks special status was illegally revoked to dehumanise dispossess and disempower the only Muslim majority state in India. The GOIs brazen loot and sale of our resources shows that the sole motive is to annihilate our identity and change the demography (sic),” said Mehbooba Mufti in a tweet.

Last week the J&K administration on the behest of Modi government changed land use laws and allowed re-classifying agricultural land for non-agricultural purposes. The decision triggered strong criticism from J&K regional parties and APHC who said the land would be used to settle non-locals.