Roshini Act of Jammu-Kashmir

 Roshini Act - The Dark Act Of Jammu -Kashmir 

(This was published in Hindi in ‘Vishva Samvad Kendra, Annual publication, 2020’)

In year 2001 ,in the state of Jammu and Kashmir, a law called 'Roshini' was brought for the landless people by the Farooq Abdullah government, the name of this act was  Roshini, but the purpose was a dark conspiracy! 

What is this ‘Roshini’ Act? The  official  name is ‘Jammu and Kashmir State Land (Vesting of Ownership to Occupants) Act 2001 – Jammu and Kashmir State Land (Proprietary to Residents) Provisions 2001 –. It is called Roshini because after the implementation of this act, the money earned by it was to be used to illuminate Jammu and Kashmir  by investing the same in the state's electricity generating projects. 

In 2014, an appeal was filed against this law in the Jammu and Kashmir High Court. In 2018, Governor Satya Pal  repealed this law. After the CBI investigation, on 9 October 2020, the Jammu and Kashmir High Court, declaring it illegal, repealed the law and canceled the allocations under it. By repeal of the Dark Light Act, Jammu and Kashmir was illuminated with the light of justice.

The Roshini Act, brought under the powers of  Article 370, implemented in the state of Jammu and Kashmir, was  in reality ,a  terrible legal conspiracy. The  political leadership and parties based in the Kashmir Valley bought it with the hidden aim of economic loot of the state’s resources and to change the demography of Jammu region by settling a particular community in Jammu region. 

So what were the social and economic side effects of this dark Roshini act? Let us review the ‘Roshini’ law.

In 2001, the Farooq Abdullah government brought this law, under which there was a provision to  get possession of government Land by Squatters, by paying a fixed price to the state government  and getting the ownership rights of that land.  The stated &Apparent goal of this law was to make landless people land owners, but in truth, the law was but a legal tool to grab  invaluable government land at a throwaway price. Initially ,the law was to be applied retrospectively from 1990. It is important to note that in 1990, lakhs of Kashmiri Hindus had  to leave their land and property and migrate from the valley- in response to their Genocide. Their land was occupied  by the  Muslim residents of the valley.

 By this law the illegal occupier became the legal owner- by paying a small amount to the state government! In 2005, the Mufti government extended this law to be applied till 2004. In 2009, the Ghulam Nabi Azad government extended the deadline to 2007. Thus encroachers sitting on  land till 2007 could become legal owners.

Under this law, people who had occupied government land till 2007, grabbed valuable government land by paying a nominal price. People could get ownership rights by paying only 100 ₹ / kanal of agricultural land.  Roshni Act was misused the Most by the political parties, leaders, state officials and people close to them in the valley. Office of National Conference, some properties of Abdullah family, Finance Minister of PDP government Haseeb Darboo, his brother, Mehboob Baig close to Abdullah family, Congress acquaintance  Mushtaq Ahmed Chaya, office of ‘Khidmat Trust’ run by Congress party-these are some of the examples of  misuse of Roshini Act By the high and mighty of the Valley.

In 2014, Advocate Ankur Sharma filed an appeal in the Jammu and Kashmir High Court against the Roshini Act citing a massive loss of 25,000 crores to the government. Court directed a CBI inquiry. During the investigation, dark layers of the conspiracy of Roshni Act were exposed. By settling a particular community in Jammu region under the Roshini Act, a conspiracy to change the demography of Jammu region was exposed. Under the Roshini Act, 71,000 acres of land was grabbed in Jammu region by a particular community, while in Kashmir Valley, 4174 acres of land was grabbed under the Roshini Act. The question arises that how and for what purpose so much government land was grabbed in Jammu? This could not have been possible without the connivance of the Government of Jammu and Kashmir. Through this conspiracy, Rohingya Muslims were resettled in Jammu by misusing the Roshini Act. The question arises that why were the Rohingyas brought from Kolkata, settled in Hindu-dominated Jammu, by the Roshni Act, and not in the Muslim-majority Kashmir Valley? Rohingyas were being settled in the Bhatidi area of Jammu for ten years via the Roshini Act. As of January 2018, according to government statistics, 1548 families have been settled in the Jammu region. According to non-government sources, this number is much higher than the official figures. The question also arises that after traveling thousands of kilometers, how did the Rohingya get down in Jammu and settle there conveniently? Why not in Bengal, Bihar? Why was the Roshini Act deadline extended?

The Jammu and Kashmir High Court also found that the 2007 Roshini Act passed by the Ghulam Nabi Azad government was illegal and unconstitutional. The law came into force without being passed in the assembly. There should also be a review of the fact that without following the constitutional process, why was the time limit for this land grabbing law extended? The review should also be that how such conspiracy laws are made and implemented? It is necessary to understand that this conspiracy was made possible because  of the existence Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir.

The role of media should also be thoroughly assessed. When this law was passed, it was praised by a certain type of media. This law was described as a means of delivering social justice to the landless people. No national level media has discussed the fact that in the presence of 35-A, only the PRC people of Jammu and Kashmir could get the ownership of the land. Landless Valmiki, Refugees from West Pakistan, landless displaced of POJK, women of Jammu and Kashmir who married non PRC holders– all of them were deprived of the benefits of Roshini Act. Not only this, the landless laborers who came from Bihar to Kashmir to work in the fields were also outside the purview of this law – but foreign Rohingya infiltrators were taking advantage of this Roshini Act and settling in Jammu! After 2001, the media has never shed any light on its misuse, while issues related to Kashmir have been making international headlines. The Roshni Act was never assessed, the media never told whether any displaced Kashmiri Hindu got its benefit or not. The fact that the abandoned property of displaced Kashmiri Hindus was usurped by this law was never revealed.

In 1950, Sheikh Abdullah had brought a land legislation - the Landlord to Tiller Act - to give land from the landlords to the landless farmer. The zamindars were entitled to keep only 180 kanals, the rest was taken by the state government without giving any  compensation. Till date, this law is considered to be the culmination of social justice, where the land was given to the deprived (Kashmiri Muslim) by taking land from the greedy zamindar (Kashmiri Hindu). But if a deeper analysis is done, it is found that Muslim zamindars had secured their land by dividing their property with the connivance of the administration, but the Hindu zamindar became powerless by this law. In Jammu, this law caused large scale economic devastation - but the misleading review of this law gives it the title of a social reform. Roshini Act was likewise a law whose real purpose was to make a particular demography powerful and to make the other demography powerless.

Whenever the amendment of Article 370 on 5 August 2019 will be examined, then the repeal of Roshini Act on 9 October 2020 will be termed  a big benefit .By repeal of the dark conspiratorial ‘Roshini’ act, the residents of Jammu and Kashmir have finally experienced   the real illumination of justice.