Jammu: CPI (M) leader Mohammad Yousuf Tarigami Monday said that the ongoing anti-land encroachment drive and eviction has on ground generated fear among the common masses.
In a statement issued to the news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO), Tarigami said, while big land grabbers have to be identified and action be taken strictly under law, the manner and the method used to evict the alleged land encroachers, especially the peasants, marginal farmers, small shopkeepers and those living in small houses constructed years back, sends a message that the administration is insensitive to the interests and sentiments of the general public and that of the individuals and organisations which express resentment against the reckless drive and coercive manner of the evictions. If the present “Campaign of eviction attains roughshod propositions, it will generate more resentment.”
The present ‘drive’ gives the impression as if the administration has waged a ‘war’ against the public. The selection of areas and individuals for bulldozing creates doubts regarding the real intentions of the administration. The eviction campaign seems selective and discriminatory, he said.
Referring to the Chief Secretary’s latest directions to the officers regarding action against those who dare to criticize the handling of the eviction drive, Tarigami affirmed that it speaks of a highhanded approach of the dispensation. “Those at the helm should keep in mind that it has to function under the Constitution and it should not give the impression that there is an undeclared emergency in J&K. This will in no way serve the cause of peace, law and order and the larger interests of the country,” he added—(KNO)
