Occupied Kashmir is undergoing a new trend of persecution by the occupying administration through direct legislation of India’s parliament. Under the pretext of alleged anti-encroachment drive the Indian occupation has identified as “state land” some 178,005.213 acres in Kashmir region and 25,159.56 acres in Jammu, totaling (822,179,393 m2).[1] Kashmiri inhabitants have effectively owned and cultivated these lands and properties under the Big Landed Estate Abolition Act (Agrarian Reforms Act) of 2007, the State Lands (Vesting of Ownership to the Occupants) Act of 2001, Jammu and Kashmir Evacuee (Administration) of Property Act (2006), Jammu and Kashmir Tenancy Act 1980, Jammu and Kashmir Common Lands (Regulation) Act, 1956 and numerous other orders promulgated in favor of economically vulnerable and otherwise-landless Kashmiri peasants.[2] The occupying Indian state’s appropriation of these agricultural lands will lead to the further economic disempowerment and geographical displacement of the local Kashmiri population.

[1] Nasir Qadri, The Great Land-Grab: Disempowering People in Indian Occupied Jammu & Kashmir (Islamabad: Legal Forum for Kashmir, 2023), https://lfkashmir.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/LFK-Factsheet-The-Great-Land-Grab.pdf.

[2] Shinzani Jain, “From ‘land to the tiller’ to land to the highest bidder: Land grabs in Jammu and Kashmir,” London School of Economics (15 February 2023), https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/internationaldevelopment/2023/02/15/from-land-to-the-tiller-to-land-to-the-highest-bidder-land-grabs-in-jammu-and-kashmir/.

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