The world over a seesaw battle is on for ages between the good and the bad, evil and the virtuous, justice and injustice between the humans alike irrespective of their caste, creed and gender. Great events have been unfolding the world over dictated by these battles often shaping the destiny of million and billions of people .Indians and its various states are no exception to these events. Erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir which has had a painful birth at the time of independence somehow retains the numerouno position to remain in the lime light for myriad reasons. Off late the latest issue to bug the union territory of J&K and the people at large is the annulment of the so called “Roshini Act” of 2001, promulgated during the chief minister ship of Dr Farooq Abdullah government. Also known as the J&K state land(vesting of ownership rights to occupants) act 2001, the law granted general ownership of J&K state land to illegal encroachers with the aim of raising money to power projects upon payments of sum to be determined by the government of J&K. The cut off year was set as 1990 by the Farooq Abdullah government which in 2004 was relaxed to 2005  by the PDP-Congress government and further relaxed to 2007 by the then Ghulam Nabi Azad government .

The act got the official name of “Roshini Act ”from the J&K government’s said plan of using these funds so garnered to help fund the power projects in the perpetually power starved state. Passed by the erstwhile state government of J&K, the Roshini act had been long plagued by accusations of corruption.

According to one estimate land allocations by the government had favoured influential bureaucrats, politicians, policemen etc. It was also dragged into an increasingly communalized rhetoric by rightwing groups which alleged the law was a means to wage a ‘land jihad’ and change the demography of Hindu majority areas.

According to the official figures around about 30000 (thirty thousand) beneficiaries got ownership rights of state land under the “Roshini Act”. Despite the popular discourse around it, thousands of poor families did benefit from it. When the national conference led state government passed the “Roshini act” in 2001, it estimated that about 20.6 lakhs kanal or 1.4 lakh hectares of state land/shamlat land worth around Rs 25448 crores was under unauthorised occupation. This law as stated above was modified under successive state governments, drawing more allegations that the tweaks were made to suit those in power. When the act was first passed, only those who had occupied the state land from before or on 1990 were eligible for ownership rights. This was later on moved to 2007, on top of it the agricultural land could be transferred free of cost.

According to official figures out of 348200 kanals (17614 hectares) of land regularized under the “Roshini Act” between 2001 and 2007, 340100 kanals (17204) hectares were transferred free of cost as agricultural land. In 2014, a report by the comptroller and auditor General of India had noted that the scheme had failed to meet its objective that is funding the power projects in the erstwhile state. Though it had a target of Rs 25448 crores, the government had generated only Rs 76 crores through the programme between 2007 and 2013. On 09th October this year the High court held the Roshini Act as unconstitutional and directed the government to make the complete identities of influential persons who grabbed land regularized under the law public. On 01st November the J&K Government ordered the cancellation of all land transfers that took place under this dubious act.

Notwithstanding the above, there have been voices within the erstwhile state of J&K who had been clamouring against this “Roshini Act” for the last one decade or so, alleging that the land grab act by police officers, politicians, bureaucrats of a particular community in connivance with the land mafia had a far reaching agenda set towards a much bigger and sinister goal that is the demographic invasion of Hindu majority area of J&K. Is it true? Let us examine this fact in this article threadbare with fact and figures.

As per many front organizations rallying the cause of Jammuites , there had been a systematic approach at the highest level to play a game of “Cloak and Dagger” with the erstwhile state to obfuscate the facts and hoist a particular community’s interests over the other by way of encroachment of land as also regularizing it through the (Roshini Act) which now stands annulled by the high court. The assertion of these front organizations is that 90% of the forest land in and around Jammu has been encroached by members of a particular community with state acquiescence and connivance. These claims have been drawing logic from the fact that many front organizations of Jammu have employed the services of a group of Psephologists, and demographic scientists who have undertaken this study .

As per them, people from a particular community who were not living in these areas of Jammu have started residing in these areas changing the whole demographic profile and thereby causing a paradigm shift in the nature of things as viewed by the locals. There have been voices in the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir who claim that it was the minority community which was favoured over the majority community. Certain independent crusaders who were spearheading this annulment of “Roshini Act” assert that out of 44915 kanals of (2272 hectares) of state land regularized in Jammu only 1180 kanals (60 hectares) had been transferred to the majority (Read Muslim) community.

Hence there have been discordant voices within the erstwhile state as to the actual beneficiaries. The communalized rhetoric built around the land rights has heightened the insecurities among various communities in Jammu. This is especially true of the Gujjar and Bakerwal community who are the nomadic and permanently on the move people bereft of any land rights and are generally land less. But now there is an atmosphere of reassurance in Jammu due to judicial activism (Read HC of J&K) taking on a new narrative by their repealing of “Roshini Act”, infusing a renewed sense of equitable justice among the marginalized sections of the society. Since the BJP swept assembly seats in Jammu in 2014 elections, the Nomadic communities have faced violent evictions and attacks for alleged cattle grazing.

It is here that the successive state governments have come a cropper and failed miserably to look after the nomadic Gujjar and Bakerwal community by not earmarking any separate grazing grounds in J&K to help prevent clash of interests. It would be big surprise for the people of Jammu and Kashmir to learn that it is this community which is the mainstay of milk and dairy products in the union territory. Minus these people the union territory may look askance to the tall claims made by the state dispensation of milk sufficiency.

The minority (Read Muslim) community believes that this vicious propaganda might lead to further violence against them. The moot point is why everyone is talking about these Gujjar/Bakerwal encroachers only? Aren’t there encroachers from other communities as well?

While the “Roshini Act” may have been annulled what is a double whammy for these nomadic/pastoralists is that neither the Forest Act of 2006 which could have offered some security /solace to them is yet to be implemented in J&K nor has the government of the day come out with a viable alternative till the time any such action is started to alleviate their pain. In fact the law recognizes land and livelihood right of scheduled tribes living in forest areas, which would cover the Gujjar and Bakerwal community.

The irony of the whole issue is that while a host of laws were repealed or annulled while J&K lost its status of a state, and a dozen of new laws were made applicable to it the most important of all the Forest Act of 2006 was not made mandatory for this erstwhile state. For the last 14 years this law was not made applicable to the erstwhile state of J&K and only recently it was given to understand that this law would see the light of the day in Jammu and Kashmir.

Can the previous governments of the day explain as to why this delay in implementation of such an important forest legislation even while fully knowing the fact that this erstwhile state has more than 90% coverage under mountains/forests? Could the governments of the day remain impervious to the yearly trials and tribulations of our nomadic brethren who trudge inhospitable terrain year over year without even as much as a murmur of protest.

As the reader of this article is very well aware that these nomadic people have for centuries been on the move between the plains of Jammu and the higher reaches to include Bhaderwah, Kishtwar and Pir Panjal and would see them in the month of April/May and Oct/Nov with their women and children in tow. It is only recently that the Union Territory has decided to get its act together and do some real action by way of survey of claimants by the forest rights committee at village level to be completed by January 15th 2021 for their further submission to the respective sub divisional committees.

The sub divisional committees shall complete the process of scrutiny of claims and preparation of record of forests rights by or before January 31 2021. Similarly the district level committees shall consider and approve the record and grant forests rights by March 01 2021. The new act envisages that the forest rights would be heritable and not alienable or transferable. This act too provides that on the recommendations of the Village Gram Sabha, forest land upto one hectare can be diverted for the purpose of development of government facilities including schools, hospitals, minor river bodies, rain water harvesting facilities, etc.

This yearly sojourn of grazing community amidst the vagaries of weather notwithstanding, it is high time that the present dispensation at Union Territory level to do some quick soul searching and ameliorate the cause of this hapless community. In fact in J&K the land for Gujjars and Bakerwals is shrinking. As if the above conundrum was not enough to muddy the waters already blackened by the misuse of now annulled “Roshini Act”, the central government on 26th October by its MHA’s two orders that is the union territory of Jammu and Kashmir Reorganization (Adaptation of Central Laws ) third order 2020 and the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir Reorganization (Adaptation of State Laws) fifth order 2020 changed the entire paradigm of land ownership.

While the third order adapts central laws such as the Real Estates Act, the fifth order has brought sweeping changes to land laws in the former state by repealing 12 state laws, including the historic land reforms laws and amending several others, some of which dealt with the sale and purchase of land in Jammu and Kashmir. These amendments officially end the protections on land rights guaranteed under Article 35-A repealed on 05th August 2019.

With the MHAs recent orders, the constitutional safeguard provided to protect the distinctive interests and identity of people of J&K with respect to land rights have been done away with. When seen in the light of the recent development of promulgation of Forests act of 2006 to the union territory of J&K, wherein district level committees will approve the forest land rights to various Gujjar communities, the two orders run at cross purposes. One removes the safeguard for land ownership while the other enforces at the same time.

This ambiguity with regard to forest land situated next to villages /habitations is bound to create confusion and needs urgent attention of the powers that be. I am sure by means of  better interpretation of these laws the fears of the minority community would be taken care of and their genuine interests protected which as of now seem to be commandeered by a powerful few.

Author is a Retired Army Officer