The authorities in Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir have allotted 20 kanals of land to the Maharashtra government for the construction of Maharashtra Bhawan (House) in the territory.
According to Kashmir Media Service, the land has been provided to the Maharashtra government in Ichgam area of Budgam district. Earlier, Eknath Shinde, the chief minister of India’s Maharashtra state had requested the occupation authorities to provide land for construction of Maharashtra Bhavan in IIOJK. Maharashtra Bhavan will be constructed on this land at a cost of 77 crores.
Meanwhile, the District Bar Association Budgam expressing grave concern over the authorities’ decision to transfer the land at Ichgam in favour of Maharashtra government said that the same was meant for building the New District Court Complex.
The Bar said that the DC Budgam has played a negative role by clandestinely processing documents for the transfer of land in favor of the Maharashtra state, adding that this move also severely affected the construction of the judicial infrastructure project in the district. “This deliberate obstruction of the judicial infrastructure project, by the District Administration Budgam is deeply concerning and disappointing”, the Bar said.
The Bar Association of Budgam urged the occupation authorities to reconsider this decision and allocate the land as originally intended for the New District Court Complex without any further delay.
It is worth mentioning here that following Modi government’s illegal revocation of IIOJK’s special status in August 2019, New Delhi has framed laws aimed at grabbing land of Kashmiris on one pretext or another and allotting it to non-locals including big Indian business tycoons in violation of the internationally disputed status of Jammu and Kashmir. This is meant to dilute the Muslim-majority character of the occupied territory through settlement of non-locals.—KMS
