Raj Bhawan driving demolition drives to undermine elected Govt, says CM Omar Abdullah

STC NEWS DESK
SRINAGAR, NOVEMBER 28 (STC): Recent demolition drives in Jammu and Kashmir have hit the credibility of the elected government, which is already facing mounting criticism for ‘failing’ to fulfill its pre-election promises. Gauging the public anger against the demolition drives carried out well under the nose of authorities, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah issued a statement that such demolition drives have been carried out without the knowledge or approval of the elected government. He called it as a “deliberate conspiracy” to embarrass and undermine the administration chosen by the people.
“Officers appointed by Raj Bhawan were using bulldozers without consulting the concerned minister or taking the elected government into confidence. Such actions clearly suggested an attempt to embarrass and undermine the government elected by the people,” CM Omar Abdullah said.
He said that the field staff in every department must be appointed with the government’s approval. “Commissioner Secretaries and Principal Secretaries are fine, but CEOs of development authorities and revenue staff must be appointed by the elected government,” he said. “Unfortunately, officers are being posted without any consultation, and they act on directions from elsewhere.”
Omar alleged that these officers were taking bulldozers out on their own and initiating demolition drives selectively.
He termed it a “planned conspiracy” and said one particular community was being targeted through these actions.
Referring to a recent demolition case under the Jammu Development Authority, Omar questioned why only one person had been targeted if illegal occupation was the real concern.
He said he had sought a full list of all JDA land under alleged illegal occupation across Jammu. “I want to see why this one individual was singled out. Is his religion the reason? It cannot be that only one plot of land is illegally occupied in all of Jammu,” he said.
He also said that the claim of “no interference in government work” was contradicted by such unilateral actions. “Show me a single file where the minister was informed before taking the bulldozer out. No permission was sought, no discussion took place,” he added.
The CM also said that he did not support illegal encroachment of government land but strongly opposed the “pick-and-choose method” used in the name of anti-encroachment. “If our officer had done this without permission, I would have taken action immediately. How can such a major step be taken without the minister’s approval?” he said.
Calling the repeated selective demolitions suspicious, Omar said that the pattern could not be ignored. “If this had happened once or twice, I could have assumed it was a mistake. But continuous incidents suggest a conspiracy to disgrace and defame the elected government because some people cannot accept the election results,” he saif.
He demanded that the JDA CEO publish a full list of all encroachments in Jammu. “Let the list come out in newspapers. Let people see whose names are there,” he said.
He alleged that the selective targeting of one community and specific localities confirmed that “this is nothing but a political conspiracy.”
Omar said that while illegal encroachments must be addressed, the method used must be transparent, uniform, and free of discrimination.
(Straight Talk Communications I Inputs from KNS)