A file image of CPI(M) leader M.Y. Tarigami
| Photo Credit: The Hindu
CPI(M) legislator M.Y. Tarigami and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) legislator Waheed-ur-Rehmaan Parra on Saturday (March 8, 2025) cornered the ruling National Conference (NC) on the issues of a former Sri Lankan cricketer being allotted a parcel of land in Jammu and Kashmir and new townships being set up in Kashmir.
Without naming the cricketer, Mr. Tarigami raised the issue in the J&K Assembly and sought a reply from the government. “I am told a former Sri Lankan cricketer has been allotted land, which is an evacuee property, that too without [the cricketer] paying any penny. This is a serious matter. Land is not on sale for all. My concern is that the law of the land should be applicable equally to all. In this case, norms have been flouted,” Mr. Tarigami said.
Mr. Tarigami also highlighted the J&K government’s eviction notices issued to farmers who were given 2,000 kanals of land under the Grow More Food scheme before the 1990s in south Kashmir’s Dooru. “The land belongs to them. State land boards have been erected on the farmers’ plots,” Mr. Tarigami said.
Congress MLA Ghulam Ahmed Mir also sought explanation from the government over the land allotment. “Why has a non-Indian cricketer been given land In Kathua without getting a penny from him?” he said.
Speaking on the issue, Minister for Rural Development Javed Dar said: “We don’t have information about it, but we will look into it.”
During the Lieutenant Governor’s administration, ex-cricketer Muttiah Muralitharan’s Ceylon Beverages was allotted 206 kanals of land in Kathua to set up a soft drinks bottling plant at a cost of ₹1,600 crore.
Are new townships for outsiders?: Parra
Meanwhile, PDP leader Parra raised the issue of “demographic change” in J&K. He alleged that the government has no transparency and clarity on the beneficiaries of the proposed townships in J&K.
“Whether the township was designed to benefit the indigenous population or to accommodate outsiders? Any ambiguity in such projects could fuel concerns over potential demographic changes in the region. Has any environmental assessment of these projects done, given the impact of climate change witnessed in Kashmir this year?” Mr. Parra said.
Sakina Itoo, a Minister in Chief Minister Omar Abdullah’s Cabinet, suggested that the satellite township “was to regulate unplanned urban expansion and address housing demands”. Ms. Itoo, while speaking on behalf of the Chief Minister, said, “A total of 1298.28 kanals of land has been identified for establishment of nine townships in J&K, including in the districts of Pulwama, Srinagar, Bandiopra, Kathua, Jammu and Poonch.”
“All ecological issues shall be taken into consideration while undertaking any construction,” Ms. Itoo added.
Published – March 08, 2025 10:04 pm IST
