Speakers at a seminar titled “Qabza, Qatal, Muqadma” urged for effective legislation and its implementation to abolish illegal land mafia occupying minorities’ properties and trust land.The seminar was organised by Evacuee Trust Property Board (ETPB) at Alhamra Arts Council on Friday.On the occasion, a declaration read by ETPB Chairman Siddiqul Farooq was passed which stated that the board and people present in the seminar have serious concerns on the ineffective police investigation reports submitted before courts of law with regard to illegal land possession and the failure of administration to end illegal occupation of minorities’ lands.The declaration further stated that there are loopholes in the laws of the Illegal Possession Act, 2005 which need to be rectified, and for this reason ETPB is constituting a committee headed by a former judge to make recommendations for reforming and amending the laws to overcome the issue of delayed justice with regard to the illegal possession cases. While these steps and stated intentions are indeed welcome and the role of ETPB in trying to safeguard the interests of the minorities’ properties under its purview is to be commended, the hope for meaningful reform remains slight. The perceptive title of the seminar reveals this truth, and optimism is dampened when the overall milieu is once again brought into focus, as illegal occupation of minorities’ properties, which include residence colonies, graveyards and places of worship, is facilitated by easily abused laws. It is imperative to make attempts to transform the hateful culture that promotes insecurity of life, liberty and property for non-Muslims. Delayed justice is once again a societal level problem and it does not seem likely that a single-issue committee has the ambit or wherewithal to implement any effective change in the judicial system. In the same vein, the bid to digitise records is also a semi-herculean endeavour, and can only happen over multiple years and that too without any guarantee that this process will not be influenced unduly by the land mafia groups and patwaris on the ground. Serious political will and continued pressure by civil society members are the only way to climb this steep mountain.
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