Kashmiris decry ‘land grab’ as India enacts new laws

Residents fear laws are aimed at a ‘land grab’ to dilute the Muslim-majority character of the disputed region, now directly under New Delhi’s control.

Srinagar, Indian-administered Kashmir – India has enacted a series of new laws – and amended some – allowing any of its nationals to buy land in the disputed Indian-administered Kashmir, a move that has been condemned by the residents.

Kashmiris fear the new laws, notified on Tuesday, are aimed at a “land grab” to dilute the Muslim-majority character of the region, whose partial autonomy was scrapped in August 2019, bringing it under New Delhi’s direct control.

The land laws – the latest in a series of changes authorised by the Hindu right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) – were implemented on the day Kashmir observed “Black Day” to mark the arrival of the Indian army in the region’s main city of Srinagar in 1947.

The law had survived multiple governments in New Delhi before the BJP-led government abrogated it in 2019 and divided the region into two federal territories: Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh.

Defending the new laws, Lt Governor Manoj Sinha, the administrative chief of the region, on Tuesday said it was a decision taken to encourage industries and that agricultural land will not be affected.

Muslims in Kashmir fear the new land laws are aimed at changing the demography of the region.

The fear that Kashmir could turn into another Palestine has intensified in the region, with even its former Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti making such references.

Muslim politicians from the region, including Mufti, have expressed shock and resentment at the new laws, accusing India of putting Kashmir’s land “up for sale”.

[Jammu and Kashmir] is now up for sale and the poorer small land holding owners will suffer,” Abdullah tweeted.