Hurriyat calls for shutdown on Oct 31 against new land laws in J&K

A day after the Centre notified new land laws for Jammu and Kashmir, moderate Hurriyat Conference led by Mirwaiz Umar Farooq said the “imperial approach of New Delhi was bound to fail.”

In a rare such statement since last August, the Hurriyat called for a shutdown on Oct. 31 to “register strong resentment against anti-people laws.”

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“One after other, laws are being invented and amended by New Delhi and forcibly thrust upon the people of J&K. From bringing in the arbitrary ‘domicile law’ to opening up residency rights to J&K to non-permanent residents…., and now by brazenly repealing the land law has been done in order to ease the settling of outsiders here,” the statement alleged.

Besides, it said, the new land laws which allow the government to declare any local area as a 'strategic area’ on the army’s request, is ‘alarming.’

While strongly opposing new land laws, the Hurriyat said, “People of J&K are not some dumb driven cattle who will yield to these imperial laws. People have proved by the strength of their unfailing will and their immense sacrifices, that they are not a dead but alive and determined nation who will not withstand such assaults upon them and their motherland.”

The Hurriyat appealed local media to print their statement which they claimed reflects the sentiments of the people of J&K on these “grave assaults.”

Before August 5 last year, most of the separatist organizations would issue statements almost daily in which they used to bash the government of India and its policies in Kashmir. The statements would get prominent space in local newspapers. However, post abrogation of Article 370 last August local media has almost not carried any news related to the separatists.