NC member brings land grants bill in J&K House, opposition hurls Gulmarg hotel taunt at CM

SRINAGAR: In a significant move that was promptly decried by the Opposition as a bid to help J&K’s “super elite” retain valuable real estate, particularly hotel owners in Gulmarg which includes a landmark property owned by CM Omar Abdullah’s cousin, the state assembly Wednesday admitted a private member’s bill introduced by a legislator from the governing National Conference that seeks to protect existing land leaseholders across the union territory.

The bill, called land grants bill, was introduced by Tanvir Sadiq, an NC member.

This is the first private member’s bill admitted by the assembly. It seeks to counter the Jammu and Kashmir Land Grants Rules, 2022, implemented by the J&K Lieutenant Governor’s administration under the J&K Reorganisation Act, 2019. The 2022 rules bar extension of leases after expiry and provide for the auction of such properties through open bidding to any Indian citizen.

Responding to the Bill, Omar said opposing it at the stage of introduction would restrict discussion in the House. He said he wanted a detailed debate after which the government would take a call on whether to support it.

BJP and the Peoples Conference criticised the Bill outside the Assembly, accusing the government of safeguarding affluent stakeholders, particularly hotel owners in Gulmarg. PDP legislator Waheed Parra tore a copy of the Bill inside the House, alleging it was aimed at shielding hoteliers, particularly the Nedous hotel in Gulmarg, whose land leases had expired.

Sadiq rejected the criticism, saying not a single BJP or PDP member opposed his “bill inside the House”. “But barely an hour later, the leader of opposition, Sunil Sharma, opposed it from Assam and their B-team, PDP, here suddenly discovered their voice.”

“My bill is clear... legal and transparent land allotment protection of public land from Lakhanpur to Sonmarg, from Gulmarg to Kishtwar... this is about dignity and fairness for the people of J&K,” he said, adding that leasehold land across J&K, including for schools and shops, is impacted by 2022 rules.

Sharma described the bill as protecting “elite interests”.

People's Conference president and MLA Handwara Sajad Lone alleged the bill overwhelmingly “favours Kashmir’s super elite while excluding the underprivileged”. He said the bill pertains to some of the most valuable real estate in Kashmir, which he estimated to be worth between Rs 70,000 crore and Rs 1 lakh crore or even more.

Rules framed under Article 370 were restricting leases to permanent residents of J&K, while Article 35A prohibited people from outside from buying property in J&K and Ladakh. However, under the 2022 rules, leases of 55 out of 59 hotels in Gulmarg have expired, leaving property owners to face eviction and their properties to be put up for auction.

On August 3, last year, the J&K administration under the LG took over the Nedous Hotel. The hotel was the first to be sealed after the Gulmarg Development Authority issued a 24- hour eviction notice to it.

Nedous was the first hotel built in Gulmarg meadow in 1888. It was built by Michael Adam Nedou, a hotelier from Dubrovnik (now Croatia), who had earlier opened hotels in Lahore and Srinagar. His son, Michael Henry Nedou, known as Harry, converted to Islam and married Mir Jan, a local Gujjar Muslim woman. Their daughter, Akbar Jahan, would later marry Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah, the grandfather of CM Omar Abdullah. The hotel is currently owned by CM’s cousin Omar K Nedou.
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