In yet another example of India’s systematic drive to dispossess Kashmiris of their properties under one pretext or another, authorities in Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir have seized assets worth over Rs 66 lakh belonging to a father-son duo in Bijbehara area of south Kashmir’s Islamabad district. According to Kashmir Media Service, the properties — including a double-storey residential house and a single-storey shopping complex in Tulkhan village — were attached by Indian police under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act.

Locals, however, expressed outrage that such actions have become routine in the occupied territory, where homes, shops and lands are being confiscated on wayward allegations of militancy, terrorism funding or drug trafficking, without transparent legal proceedings. They said the Indian regime is using such operations as a cover to strip Kashmiris of their assets and hand over prime locations to non-locals under various guises, in line with its broader demographic agenda.

Rights groups have repeatedly criticized these confiscations as collective punishment aimed at instilling fear and suppressing dissent in the occupied territory. While the Indian police claimed the latest seizure was linked to narcotics smuggling, residents said the frequent invocation of NDPS and UAPA laws to target locals reveals the political motive behind the so-called crackdown.

Credit: Independent News Pakistan (INP)