Mehbooba’s Anger Optics

Mufti Doesn’t Reveal That Party Leader Rashid Malik’s Palatial House in Sunjwan Was De Facto PDP Office

Giant Hoardings Of Mufti, Daughter Were Removed After UT Admn Gave Info That PDP Office In Sunjwan Was Over 3 Kanals of Illegally Occupied Land

 Iqbal Ahmed

Former Governor of Jammu and Kashmir Satya Pal Malik recently dropped a bombshell when he stated that Mehbooba Mufti was illegally occupying state land in Sunjwan area of Jammu district. In a recent interview, the former Governor said that Mehbooba Mufti had taken benefit of the Jammu and Kashmir State Land (Vesting of Ownership to the Occupants) Act, 2001, popularly known as the Roshni Act.

Mr Malik, known for making controversial and inconvenient statements, stated that Mehbooba Mufti had grabbed state land in Jammu. Mehbooba Mufti reacted strongly to the former Governor’s statement and served a legal notice upon him. The legal notice stated that the former Governor’s statement was false and defamatory, made with the “sole objective of tarnishing her otherwise politically neat and clean image.”

Mehbooba stated that her office in Jammu is functioning in a government house at Gandhi Nagar, which has been rented out by the government in her name.

PDP Office In Gandhi Nagar: Mehbooba Mufti Hides Behind Half Truth

Why is Mehbooba’s statement a half-truth? Because there is a de facto PDP office in Sunjwan which has been more popular than the party office at Gandhi Nagar.

Till the last week of November 2020, the PDP flag used to fly high on this palatial house in Sunjwan, constructed on a plot measuring three kanals, which is roughly 1500 square meters. Gigantic hoardings of late Mufti Mohammad Sayeed and Mehbooba Mufti could be seen on the boundary walls of the house. The office is actually the residence of PDP leader Rashid Malik alias Sheeda Sarpanch. The entire plot comprises encroached state land, which has been grabbed by Rashid Malik. The house is constructed affluently, and the flooring of the house is in costly marble from Rajasthan.

Who is Rashid Malik

Rashid Malik was state secretary of PDP and one of the prominent faces of PDP in Jammu region. 

According to Revenue officials, Rashid Malik alone has grabbed more than 1300 kanals of state and forest land in Sunjwan and adjoining areas. Sources reveal that Malik would offer more than what the officials of the Forest and the Revenue Department demanded for making false entries in the records and changing the title of the land. Malik used to often mention that a few years ago, he was a poor construction labourer, carrying boulders on his shoulders. Rashid Malik hails from Chatta village of Jammu. He moved to Sunjwan village in the early 90s when militancy was at its peak in Kashmir. Malik was also elected as Sarpanch of Chatta village.

Thanks to land grabbing, Malik’s personal wealth now runs into hundreds of crores. PDP leaders from Jammu and Kashmir would visit Malik either for securing a residential plot as a gift or for other monetary considerations. This is because Rashid Malik was known in PDP for his ultra-generous hefty donations.

Senior PDP Leaders Would Queue Up at PDP Office In Sunjwan for Malik’s Favours

PDP leaders would queue up at the party’s Sunjwan office for favours. Those who were given residential plots by Rashid Malik include senior PDP leaders Abdul Rehman veeri, Abdul Gaffar Sofi and others.   

The PDP office in Sunjwan is on the main road. It is at a distance of about 600 meters from the old Sunjwan village. Many Kashmiri militants who had surrendered had moved to Jammu to save their lives from being killed from other dreaded militants who were active. They were desperate to leave Kashmir because at that time, many surrendered militants had been killed by active militants. These surrendered militants wanted to build their house in Jammu. Many others from Kahsmir wanted to have a house in Jammu too, in addition to the house in Kashmir. The exodus of the Kashmiri Pandits happened around the same time. The Administration was busy in relocating and resettling the displaced Pandits in Jammu. Kashmiri surrendered militants who had shifted to Jammu were searching those places in Jammu where the local demographic profile was Muslim majority. Sunjwan was perfect for them.

Sunjwan, Nowabad and Bathindi became favourite destination for Kashmiris To Own House In Jammu

Sunjwan’s barren land was owned by the state. Slowly, locals began to encroach upon the land. They sold it to Kashmiri surrendered militants. Within a decade, Muslims from Kashmir purchased the encroached state land and built houses here. Over the next ten years, Sunjwan, Nowabad and Bathindi areas in Jammu became the favourite destination for the average middle class common Kashmiris. They flocked here to buy land and build a house in Jammu in addition to their residence in the Valley. Rashid Malik was a powerful man in the area. He wielded authority because he was the Sarpanch. Malik also assisted the locals in encroachment. Malik first encroached upon several hundred kanals of land in the Sunjwan area. Thereafter he became a land broker and sold the illegally occupied land.

Malik joined PDP in 2004. Before that he was in National Conference. Malik was the PDP candidate from Nagrota constituency in 2008. He lost the Assembly elections held the same year. Malik was part of the power coterie of Mufti Mohammed Sayeed and  Mehbooba Mufti. He grabbed land in Sunjwan and also built his own house there, which was used as the PDP office. The land was originally a nallah. With the banner of PDP and in the garb of party office, Malik constructed a palatial house on the occupied land. Malik had lost the election. But since he was a rich man, he was given a good position in PDP. 

PDP’s Office Sits On Encroached Land: J&K Administration In November 2020

On November 25, 2020, the divisional commissioner of Jammu issued a list of seven beneficiaries who had encroached upon the land physically but didn’t show it in the revenue records. The list released by the J&K Administration revealed that office of People’s Democratic Party (PDP) was located on illegally occupied three kanals of land in Jammu’s Sunjwan area. At that time too, PDP president Mehbooba Mufti had vehemently denied the information. She had claimed that the premises had been rented.

Was Former Governor Satya Pal Malik referring to Rashid Malik in the video?

In the now-viral video, former Governor Satya Pal Malik talks about the land-grabbing enabled by the Roshni Act. During this speech, the former Governor said, “Mehbooba ke aadmi ko to der hi nahin lagti kabza karne mein. Vo to ek khoonta gaad ke bhains baandh deta hai aur kehta hai meri zameen hai.”

Mr Malik did not name Rashid Malik. But it was widely understood by people that he was referring to Rashid Malik. Even those in the PDP admitted that the Ex-Governor was seemingly referring to Rashid Malik. Some PDP leaders remarked that Malik has kept cows and buffaloes at a plot in Sunjwan, so perhaps the Governor was referring to this practice.

MAJOR LANG GRABS BY RASHID MALIK

Malik Went Ballistic With Encroachment After PDP Formed Government In J&K

After PDP formed the government in Jammu and Kashmir, Malik went ballistic with encroachment in Jammu’s outskirts. He encroached upon thousands of kanals in Sunjwan. He also encroached upon a whole nallah, which is approximately 150 to 200 kanals along Sunjwan Burmani road, and a drive of about ten minutes from patwari halqa Sunjwan.

Malik encroached upon approximately 100 kanals of state land near International Delhi Public School, Sunjwan. In addition, Malik encroached upon approximately 85 kanals of land near International Daily Rising School in the same area. Malik grabbed 95 kanals of forest land in upper Chawadhi belt of Chawadhi village. He has been listed among the major forest land encroachers of Jammu. Official figures reveal that Malik and his son Zulfkar Malik have encroached about 36 kanals and one marla of forest land. After encroaching upon the land here, Malik further sold this illegally occupied land for crores of rupees. Malik is a multi-billionaire now. He still holds encroached land. Malik built three houses on the encroached land and some multi-storey commercial complexes. Flush with funds, Malik purchased many commercial spaces in the area.

Till the time PDP was in power, nobody asked Malik about his encroachment and wrongful possession of land. Malik was later booked under Public Safety Act in August 2019 for illegal land grabbing, threatening people and in a case of attempt to murder. Many FIRs have been registered against Rashid Malik in Trikuta Nagar Police Station. These include 313/97 u/s 447/353/147/336 RPC which is punishable for criminal trespassing; 185/2000/u/s 384/147 RPC; 114/2001 u/s 341/323/336/147/148 RPC; 255/2002 u/s 341/353 RPC; 182/2008 u/s 447. A, RPC; 45/2015 U/S 447/323 rpc; 204/2015 U/S 307/341/427/323/147/148 RPC; 110/ 18 u/s 447. A. RPC 6/39 F Act; 25/19 U/S 341/336/323/147/148 RPC.

PDP Office In Sunjwan Was Inaugurated by Late Mufti Mohammad Sayeed. Prominent Party Leaders Were Present At The Inaugural Function

Mehbooba Mufti can now claim that the palatial house belonging to PDP leader Rashid Malik in Sunjwan was not the party office. She can take the stand that being a PDP leader, Rashid Malik had voluntarily put up the giant hoardings. She can state that the premises continue to be Rashid Malik’s house, and the party had nothing to do with whether the house was made on illegally occupied land or not. All this may be factually correct.

But it was a known fact in the area and also in the PDP that Rashid Malik’s house in Sunjwan was the de facto PDP office. This house, popularly called as the PDP office, was inaugurated by late Mufti Mohammad Sayeed. Prominent leaders of the party were present at the inaugural function. Party workers say that the giant hoardings Of Mufti Sayeed and Mehbooba on the “Sunjwan PDP Office” were removed after the list of illegal occupation of land was released by the J&K Administration in the last week of November 2020.

Muneer Waza – Rashid Malik’s Tout In Sunjwan 

Was introduced to the police and civil administration in Jammu region by Mufti family as the son of Mufti Mohd Sayeed

Muneer Waza, today a rich landlord of Jammu, was a poor youth from Mehbooba Mufti’s hometown Bijbehara. He was close to the Mufti family. Even in his youth years, Muneer was known in the PDP circles as a thorough schemer.

In 2008, Muneer Waza was introduced to the police and civil administration in Jammu region by the Mufti family as the son of Mufti Mohd Sayeed. Muneer was later adopted by Rashid Malik. By this time, Malik had gained the notoriety of being a major land grabber in Jammu. Rashid Malik had given crores of rupees to Mufti Sayeed as party fund. Muneer Waza and Rashid Malik together grabbed more than 2500 kanals of forest land in Sunjwan and Bhatindi, and later facilitated the colonization of this land. Waza was introduced to Malik by Mufti Mohammad Sayeed’s private secretary MK Dhar. Muneer duped hundreds of Kashmiris who purchased state and forest land in the name of proprietary land. Muneer would threaten people that he was connected to the police and civil administration, and to the political elites of Jammu.

Muneer later established a residential colony on state land in his own name and called it Muneerabad. He has a palatial house in the colony. Muneer was arrested by the police early this year. Sources said that some senior BJP leaders from Jammu regiona allegedly built pressure on police in Muneer’s favour. He was later released. This suggests that some senior BJP leaders too had allegedly taken favours from Muneer, and they may be beneficiaries of land grabbing at Sunjwan.