Indigenous Kashmiri Families Told to Raze their Homes
‘Indigenous peoples are the owners of their lands and forests’
ANANTNAG: On November 13 the Union administration of Jammu Kashmir began an eviction drive to destroy the decades-old homes of Gujjars and Bakarwals in the Mamal, Rangward, Movera and Lidroo villages of Anantnag.
The administration claims these families, who have been living on forest land for generations, are “encroachers” with no claims to the land they live and work on, or its resources.
A local resident showed The Citizen a piece of paper handed to them by the UT administration. It reads:
“You have illegally occupied the land of the Forest department and erected an embankment. In this connection, you are informed to raze these illegal structures within seven days.”