I Ahmed Wani
In Jammu and Kashmir, land papers change hands like hot rotis at a dhaba, and ownership stories float around like smoke from a kangri. PDP MLA Waheed Para brought a new bill to the table last month: *Jammu and Kashmir (Regularisation and Recognition of Property Rights of Residents in Public Land) Bill, 2025*. It sounds like a big help for simple people who have built small homes on government land over many years. The idea was to turn their weak claims into proper ownership by paying just one-third of the market rate. Poor families, widows, and kin of martyrs would pay nothing at all. No new grabbing after 1 March 2025, and no touching highways or restricted areas.
But Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said *no way*. He called it a “floodgate for land thieves” and a gift to the very mafia Para claims to fight. Omar’s quick rejection was like catching a pickpocket red-handed. Still, in this family drama of politics, everyone has mud on their hands, and the common man pays the price.
In the Assembly, NC and BJP MLAs joined hands—a rare sight—and voted the bill down. BJP’s Sunil Sharma called it “land jihad” meant to change who lives where. Para hit back on X, saying don’t call honest old residents “invaders”. Mehbooba Mufti, PDP chief, linked it to hotel evictions in Gulmarg and called it part of their “anti-bulldozer” fight. She had earlier brought another bill to stop random demolitions that started after the 2022 land rules ended old leases.
PDP now calls itself the protector of the poor against bulldozers. They say they are saving homes, jobs, and trust in places like Gulmarg. Para says it follows Sheikh Abdullah’s old dream of “land to the tiller”. But many smell something fishy.
Let me take you back to 2007. I was in a meeting in Anantnag district committee. Ghulam Nabi Malik, then CPIM district secretary and head of Kisan Tahreek, tore into the Roshni Act. He explained how it was meant to raise money for power projects but became a free pass for big people to grab land. We were so angry that we organized a protest in Anantnag with the slogan: “Roshni jo andhera hai, andhera ko khatam karo!” — End this darkness called Roshni!
That darkness is back in new clothes.
The same people who looted land in bulk are now behind this bill. Take **Rashid Malik**, known as *Seeda Taali*, PDP district president in Jammu. He grabbed hundreds of kanals. Even the PDP office in Sunjwan, Jammu, sits on three kanals of his grabbed land. He turned forest and grazing land into illegal colonies. He fought election from Nagrota on PDP ticket.
Then there’s Haroon Khatana contested from Kokernag—another land grabber. He lost the 2024 election on PDP ticket but keeps big plots still in position despite he sold out hundreds plots without any proper land record.
Hussain Ali Wafa fought from Nagrota in 2014 on PDP ticket. He and his family hold hundreds of kanals in Khanpora, Bajalta, Sunjwan— all unauthorized. His son Pervaiz Ali Wafa, Youth PDP general secretary, has more land in Bajalta.
It looks like this bill is not for the poor. It’s a promise to these big grabbers: “Support our party, we’ll make your illegal land legal.”
In Srinagar, whole areas like Narkara have been sold by unknown people with political and officer backing. Wetlands exist only in files now. On the Shalimar side, green fields have become concrete jungles. No one cares about the fragile valley ecosystem. Lakes shrink, floods rise, but the mafia keeps building.
Omar talks big against land mafia, but what about his own family? The Abdullahs have a big palace in Sunjwan, Jammu—nearly one acre—built on state forest land in 1998. Even the NC headquarters was regularized under Roshni. They call it “old mistake” or “BJP propaganda”. But poor people’s huts get bulldozed in minutes. No committee visits the big houses.
PDP’s Haseeb Drabu, who once spoke of clean politics, lives in Jawahar Nagar on land said to be grabbed. Will he return it? Not likely.
The real winners? The land mafia. They lose some land in LG drives, then grab more with new tricks—fake papers, shell companies, political blessings. Poor homes are razed for headlines. Rich plots stay safe.
In tea shops and WhatsApp groups, people say:
Abdul from Srinagar outskirts:PDP says save our homes—good talk. But will my small plot go to some PDP leader’s cousin? We’ve heard this before.”
Rukhsana, a widow in Pulwama: “Mehbooba promises no fees for widows like me. Nice. But Omar’s rejection feels like he’s protecting BJP, not us.”
Rajesh, shopkeeper in Jammu: “PDP says ‘help the poor’, but it means ‘help our donors’. My legal plot is safe, but neighbors fear mafia will eat everything.”
Omar says NC will bring better laws—five marlas for the landless, proper lease rules. But trust is low. People ask: *If bulldozers spare palaces, why crush our dreams?*
This is not about right or wrong. It’s about votes. PDP wants the poor to cheer “anti-bulldozer”. NC wants to look strong with BJP. The mafia funds both sides. The poor? They get slogans, not solutions.
Will Omar clear Sunjwan? Will Drabu return his land? Will Para admit the bill helps grabbers? Will the mafia stop?
No. Never.
Bulldozers will roar—on small homes only for show. Big houses will sleep in peace.
Same story, old players.
As someone said on X: “Same script, new actors. When will the common man get justice?”
The protest cry of 2007 still echoes:
Roshni jo andhera hai—andhera ab bhi hai.
