Graves are no longer sacred in J&K

The issuance of eviction warrants by the Eviction Authority constituted by the State Government under the J&K Wakfs Act and the State High Court’s directions for execution of these warrants, have not so far deterred the encroachers from raising constructions in the area. Instead, they haveobstructed the local people from burying bodies, even in the remaining grave-yard land. The Deputy Commissioner of Jammu, however, expressed ignorance about the matter. “I will look into it,” he said.

“My father Bhag Din and mother Shanni died in 1970 and were buried in the graveyard. I used to visit their graves, until they disappeared under the houses constructed by encroachers in 1980,” Thoru Ram said, “I objected to the construction of houses, but the encroachers started threatening me.”Bhag Ali, a peon in a Government department, complained that someone had constructed a house on the graves of his grandparents. A GGM Science College employee Nazir Ahmed, whose 17-year-old son was laid to rest here, lamented that encroachers used to attack anyone who objected to the construction activities in the grave-yard. Sources said that as no one in the administration paid heed to the complaints, Choudhary Sajjad Majid formed an action committee to get the graveyard land vacated in 1995.

Bhag Ali filed aPublic Interest Litigation in the State HC, seeking directions to the State to execute the eviction warrants issued by the Eviction Authority in 1991. As the hearing on the PIL was in progress, the Deputy Commissioner of Jammu wrote to the Tehsildar on September 24, 1997, asking for execution of 61 eviction warrants issued by the Eviction Authority, in connection with the Auqaf property. However, the eviction process soon got bogged down by bureaucratic red tape, sources added.

The Administrator Wakafs of Jammu, Khalid Hussain, filed a counter affidavit in the HC seeking dismissal of the litigation on various grounds, including the point that the eviction warrants obtained from the court of Sub Judge (Eviction Authority) have been sent to the Deputy Commissioner, Jammu, for execution. As a result, the court dismissed the PIL. Interestingly, Khalid Hussain is one of the encroachers, sources said. The proof, the issuance of an eviction warrant issued by the Eviction Authority, in respect to encroachment offive marlas of land by him.