The Jammu Kashmir Administration has started demolishing temporary Kaccha houses of Gujjar and Bakarwal tribes in Kashmir’s Pahalgam area.
Gujjars and Barkarwals who stay in Kashmir for six months in the summer season, have already migrated to areas of Jammu leaving behind their temporary structures here.
On Friday a video was shared on a social media platform showing a Gujjar Kotha (temporary structure) being demolished by the forest authority.
The video has evoked criticism with people asking why the administration has started vandalising these structures which are enacted here for the last 7 decades and are only used as temporary accommodation.
“I am unable to understand why the Forest Department has started to demolish the Kothas. Neither have we occupied these lands nor do we live there permanently. We live there for 6 months during summers but why is this being done,” Zahid Parwaz Choudhary, President Jammu Kashmir Gujjar Bakarwal Youth Welfare Conference tweeted sharing the video from Pahalgam.
Speaking to Free Press Kashmir, Choudhary said, “these structures are here for more than 70 years. The demolition drive that is seen in the video is taking place in the higher reaches of the Mammal area of Pahalgam, in district Anantnag.”
He added that the Gujjars are not living in these Kothas presently because they have migrated to the Jammu region.
Speaking to the Free Press Kashmir, District Commissioner, Anantnag, K K Sidha said, “it is not the demolition of Gujjar Kothas but actually anti-encroachment drives are being taken place. Till now we have retrieved 700 Kanal of land that was encroached and we are submitting a report to the high court also.”
Sidha said they are retrieving all the forest land or government that has been under illegal occupation.
“Nobody is shelter less, these were all abandoned structures and the sole motive of enacting them was only to grab possession of the land. Divisional bench is monitoring the development authority and they have given direction to remove all the unauthorised structures on forest land,” Sidha added.
Choudhary however contests this claim and says that these structures are abandoned in winters because the nomads migrate to the Jammu region in winters every year.
“They will come back in May next year and will find no homes there. How would they feel? Where will they go?” he questioned.
This development follows the Jammu and Kashmir Forest Department serving eviction notices to the tribal people both in Jammu and Kashmir after the abrogation of Roshni Act.
The Roshni Act granted the ownership to the occupants of the state land. However, abrogation of the Act has pushed thousands of Gujjar and Bakerwal families to the brink of losing possession of their land. Together, the communities constitute 11.9% of the state’s population.
At the same time, Forest Right Act 2006, which was to be implemented in JK like other hundreds of laws came into force after the abrogation of article 370, has not been implemented yet.
Under the Act, traditional forest dwellers are protected against forced displacements and have other rights as well, which include grazing rights, access to water resources and access to forest products (except timber).
The Story originally appeared on Free Press Kashmir