SRINGAR, Jammu and Kashmir — A, 45, has been a property dealer in Srinagar for the past twenty years, making money from the commission he earns by facilitating the sale and purchase of residential plots in the city. A’s customers have always been other Kashmiris, and he isn’t quite sure whether to resist or accept the new land laws that allow all Indians to buy land inside Jammu and Kashmir.
When asked if he would sell land to people from outside Kashmir, A was silent for a long time, pointing out that this seemingly simple question was a hard one for him to answer.
A said that he was only a “small-time broker” who was caught between history, politics, and eking out a living amid a global pandemic. From his experiences in real estate, he had learnt that lucrative transactions trumped everything else.
“The politics over the land will only be an issue with society as a whole, but individuals will take decisions based on their interests,” said A. “An individual driven by his needs will sell his property to one paying him more. It won’t matter whether that buyer is a local or an outsider.”
“The conflict in Kashmir is decades old but it never impacted our trade,” he said. “But now the conflict has taken over our occupation. We fear the future.”
HuffPost India spoke with four Kashmiri property dealers, who expressed pain and pragmatism about the changes in the laws governing property and citizenship in Kashmir, which they said were too fundamental to be affected by individual choices and sentiment.
“It doesn’t matter whether I would want to sell or not. I am just an ordinary broker,” said B, a 38-year-old broker in Srinagar. “The law matters and the new law obliges us to sell land.”
“I have received enquiries from outsiders to buy land in Pahalgam but so far I have held back,” said C, a 38-year-old broker in Pahalgam, a hub of tourism. “But I don’t know how long I will be able to resist.”
“We are caught between the government and the society. Government wants us to sell land to outsiders and people don’t,” said C. “We are required to obey the new land laws but doing so pits us against our people. This can be very dangerous for us in a troubled place like Kashmir.”
Until last year, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi revoked J&K’s autonomous status within India and demoted the country’s only Muslim-majority state to a Union Territory, people living in other parts of India could not buy property in the conflict-ridden region. Many Kashmiris see the new land laws and the recent changes in the domicile rules as a means to speed up demographic change.
While Kashmiris believe that the violence plaguing Kashmir, one of the most heavily militarised zones in the world, will ward off private buyers for many years to come, there is anxiety about the Modi government selling state land to large corporations from outside Kashmir, and buying private land for building settlements that would pave the way for more outsiders settling in Kashmir.
In a recent interview to The Hindu, the Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha, who represents the Modi government in J&K, said local administration had selected 6,000 acres of land for an industrial park , and was expected to clear ₹25,000-30,000 crores worth of investment. “We want private enterprise and industry for creating more jobs for the youth in J&K,” he said.
A common refrain is that the Modi government is treating J&K differently, when there are at least 15 states in India where the selling of land is either completely or partially forbidden to outsiders. The states where only residents can buy land include Himachal Pradesh, Sikkim, Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh.
In 2020, the Modi government has by repealing and amending J&K’s land laws, empowered the local administration to not only sell or lease out government land but also the private land. The Jammu and Kashmir Development Act of 1970, for instance, now allows for establishing the Jammu and Kashmir Industrial Development Corporation that can acquire any land for the building industrial areas, and for the armed forces to take possession of any land deemed as “strategic.” Even agricultural land can now be converted into non-agricultural land and transferred to outsiders.
Militants have threatened any potential buyers and sellers with grave repercussions, posting dire warnings on walls and lampposts in Srinagar as well circulating them on Whatsapp. “Don’t put your honour and life on the line by buying land in Kashmir,” reads one that was circulating on WhatsApp in November.
“I know there are huge stakes. This is not about selling the land. It is about bringing outsiders in and letting them take over Kashmir.” said D, a 28-year-old broker in Gulmarg, another tourism hub. “But when the administration itself is selling land to outsiders, how does it matter if I don’t.”
E, 58, a wealthy businessman, who owns shopping complexes and apartments in Srinagar, said, “We can’t afford to refuse to sell the property to outsiders.”
Property dealers in Jammu
In Jammu Division, where there are more Hindus than Muslims, but certain pockets are dominated by Muslims, political parties other than the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party have opposed the new laws. The Congress Party recently held a ’Signature Campaign’ in Jammu district to oppose the new land laws. The party, however, didn’t reveal how many people participated in the campaign. “Jammu’s identity and demography is on the line,” said J&K’s Congress spokesperson Ravinder Sharma. “Our youth are being denied jobs. Now our people will lose their land too.”
The three property dealers that HuffPost India spoke with said they had no qualms about selling land to outsiders, but they were waiting for more clarity on the implementation of the new laws. One query, for instance, is whether selling to outsiders required different paperwork than from selling to locals.
“People are making enquiries from around the country but not buying yet,” said F, a 53-year-old broker based in Jammu city. “We are waiting for the fog about the new laws to clear before initiating transactions”.
G, a 33-year-old broker in Jammu city, said that while Hindu residents of Jammu city have reservations about selling the property they own to outsiders, fearing that it will dilute the “Dogra identity” of the city, these concerns are less pronounced in the countryside.
“There are vast lands in Samba and Kathua which could be lapped up by outsiders,” said F, referring to two Hindu-majority districts in Jammu Division.
F, a broker in Jammu city , recently advertised a stretch of land along the road from Jammu city to Akhnoor, a town located on the banks of the river Chenab.
“I’m willing to sell it to anyone,” he said.
Editor’s note: The property dealers spoke on the condition of anonymity, fearing backlash from the Indian authorities, militants, and their community.
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