After 1947 these laws were left untouched, as per Nehru, to prevent moneyed people from buying all the land there.
Are people really ready to buy land in Kashmir with wads of cash in their hands?
Why are not not moneyed people buying land in other parts of the country where they are free to do so?
Let's do some mathematics and try to find out.
People buy land for two main reasons (1) To build a house live & live there or (2) as an investment
Let us first look at buying lad for the purpose of living. The climate of Kashmir is freezing cold and harsh. Anyone outside from J&K can found the climate good for a few days but living there is uncomfortable. Another factor is cost of living. Here is a comparison of cost of living of Raipur, the capital of Chattisgarh and Mumbai, the capital of Maharashtra. As clear the cost of property(Rent/Own) in Raipur is almost ten times cheaper than Mumbai. Why not people are flocking to Raipur? Why Raipur has a population of 10 lakhs while Mumbai has 2 crores?
Now come the second reason of buying a property - Investment. Given the violence, militancy and terrorism it is unlikely that people would invest in J&K. We all know what happened to Kashmiri Pandits and their property. When people purchase a land they expect a Return on Investment. In case of J&K it is nearly zero. Hence, it is unlikely that people would buy land in J&K as an investment.
From the above analysis it is clear that even if buying land is made open for people outside J&K, it is unlikely that any buyers will come forward.
Kashmiris should stop living in the delusion that people outside J&K are dying to buy their land.
Sources :
1. https://scroll.in/article/665862/myth-no-1-about-article-370-it-prevents-indians-from-buying-land-in-kashmir
2. Mumbai vs Raipur
3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Indian_states_and_union_territories_by_GDP_per_capita
Image Credit : https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Rangdum_village_grazing_fields.jpg
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