A complete shutdown is being observed across the Kashmir Valley on Saturday against new laws being implemented in J&K. Most shops, business centres, petrol pumps, banks and offices remained closed. Traffic is mostly of the roads.
The Hurriyat Conference has called for peaceful protests on Saturday against the new land laws in Jammu and Kashmir. In a statement, Hurriyat leaders said the government of India had been issuing incessant anti-people orders at frequent intervals to intimidate and psychologically torture the people of Jammu and Kashmir.
“All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC) reiterates its principled stand of engagement and dialogue among stakeholders for resolution of the Kashmir dispute. The Union was attempting to undermine all attempts of pursuing a peaceful resolution to the Jammu and Kashmir issue,” the statement said.
While denouncing the “incessant anti-people orders” issued by the government of India to “intimidate and psychologically torture” the people of Jammu and Kashmir, Hurriyat said this “imperial approach” was bound to fail. It further stated that the people of Jammu and Kashmir are not ‘dumb driven cattle’ who will ‘withstand assaults upon the motherland.’
The statement has also asked people to hold peaceful shutdown to register their resentment against the laws and also demanded their immediate withdrawal.
On October 28, the Jammu and Kashmir unit of the Congress party joined the other mainstream parties in opposing the new land laws notified by the Centre for the Union territory. “The Congress party rejects the new land laws and vows to fight for the protection of people’s rights,” JKPCC president Ghulam Ahmad Mir said while addressing a public gathering in the Gurez area of Bandipora district. He termed the new land laws as an assault on the rights of people and said the Congress party would not accept such “anti-J&K decisions” by the Centre.
The People’s Alliance for Gupkar Declaration, an amalgam of various mainstream parties in Jammu and Kashmir including the National Conference and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), had also condemned the amendments to the land laws and pledged to fight it on all fronts.
On October 27, the Union ministry of home affairs (MHA) amended several Jammu and Kashmir land laws and introduced some new one to allow any person from across India to buy land in the region. However, the notification states that land will not be taken for agriculture.
Until last year, outsiders were not allowed to buy property including land in Jammu and Kashmir. These rights were exclusives reserved for permanent residents of the region. But in August 2019, the Centre read down Article 370 and Article 35A to remove this protection.
