Pro-Kashmir activists in the Indian-controlled Muslim-majority region have voiced their outrage at New Delhi’s efforts to "loot" and "sell" the territory.
On Monday, the Indian government launched a real estate summit in Kashmir to implement purported development plans following the revocation of its special status in 2019.
The summit triggered sharp reactions from Kashmiri activists, who described the move as a continued effort to plunder the area’s resources and change its demography.
Mehbooba Mufti, president of the Jammu and Kashmir Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), hit out at the Indian government, accusing New Delhi of plotting against the Muslims of Kashmir.
“J&K’s special status was illegally revoked to dehumanize, dispossess & disempower the only Muslim majority state in India. GOIs brazen loot & sale of our resources shows that the sole motive is to annihilate our identity & change the demography,” Mufti said in a tweet on Tuesday.
J&Ks special status was illegally revoked to dehumanise, dispossess & disempower the only muslim majority state in India.GOIs brazen loot & sale of our resources shows that the sole motive is to annihilate our identity & change the demography. https://t.co/MhYXEEWixY
— Mehbooba Mufti (@MehboobaMufti) December 27, 2021
Prior to the revocation of Article 370, which had given the Indian-administered Kashmir a special status, non-locals were barred from purchasing or owning land there. The right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) revoked that status.
“What happened on August 5, 2019 was not the end in itself. In fact, that was beginning of a process to disempower and disenfranchise the people of Muslim majority state. Their eyes are set on the land of Jammu and Kashmir, on our resources, on our minerals. These orders that come one after the other are an attempt towards completion of their agenda,” said PDP spokesperson Suhail Bukahri.
The next real estate summit in Srinagar is scheduled for May 21-22, 2022.