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| Angry Sikhs likely to vote against BJP in Gandhi Nagar assembly constituency | | Senior party leader meets officials seeks amendments, finds no takers for his suggestion | | Early Times Report
Jammu, July 1: Bharatiya Janata Party may face tough battle in Gandhi Nagar assembly constituency whenever the elections are held as the Sikhs are unhappy with the government’s decision to restrict them from buying or selling agricultural land.
Members of Sikh, Mahajan and Khatri communities have termed this law as sheer discrimination with them and have accused the government of snatching their fundamental rights. Despite stiff opposition from all the communities the government has not amended this law.
Sikhs, who are in good numbers in Gandhi Nagar assembly constituency, are reportedly angry over the government’s move.
“A senior BJP leader has met the people from administration two to three times to persuade them to amend the land law as he feared that his party may lose the voter base in Jammu areas. He had demanded that the law should be amended. But it didn’t make any difference as the government has not paid any heed to his suggestion.”
Sikhs, according to the sources, have told the BJP leaders that they should convey it to their party high command that the new law is “discriminatory” and has antagonized the members of their community. “If the land law is not amended and we are stopped from purchasing or selling the agri ultural land in our own state, then BJP could face stiff opposition from Sikhs in the assembly elections,” the community members are understood to have informed the local leaders of the saffron party.
It’s in place to mention here that the inequality has been created with amendment in the State Land Law. More than 10 lakh Mahajans, over five lakh Khatris and lakhs of Sikhs have been deprived of their fundamental right to buy or sell agricultural land as these communities didn’t figure in the list of “non-agriculturists” under Section 6 of obsolete J&K Alienation of Land Act (No V of 1995 Samvat) enacted in Maharaja Hari Singh’s time and repealed on October 26, 2020 along with half a dozen other land laws. The `casteist’ provision was incorporated in J&K Land Revenue Act of Samvat 1996. Under the repealed law, lists of agricultural and non-agriculturist communities were notified, province and district wise, in November 1939.
However, under J&K Alienation of Land Act, it had a relaxation clause for sale of land to non-agriculturists up to four kanals of land for construction of houses. Moreover, after independence, this law was not strictly followed in practice.
In view of this, many families of these communities have agricultural land in their names. |
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