India News | Uttarakhand: Hunger Strike Outside Shaheed Smarak for Strict Land Law
Get latest articles and stories on India at LatestLY. Activist Mohit Dimri began a hunger strike in front of the Shaheed Smarak here on Tuesday as part of an agitation for stricter land laws and other measures to protect the rights of native residents of Uttarakhand, after the administration prevented him from entering the premises.
Dehradun, Nov 26 (PTI) Activist Mohit Dimri began a hunger strike in front of the Shaheed Smarak here on Tuesday as part of an agitation for stricter land laws and other measures to protect the rights of native residents of Uttarakhand, after the administration prevented him from entering the premises.
Dimri, convenor of Mool Niwas Bhu Kanoon Samanvay Sangharsh Samiti, said it was a "dictatorial" step taken by the administration, which had locked the gates of the martyrs' memorial and deployed a large number of police personnel at the site.
The administration justified its step saying the martyrs' memorial cannot be used as a venue for agitational programmes.
However, Dimri was unfazed and even threatened to break the locks.
"It is just the beginning of our stir. More and more people will join us and it will spread statewide and the administration may find it more difficult to handle the situation," Dimri said after he along with his supporters began the protest outside the memorial premises.
The agitation will go on and if the administration does not give in, the locks on the gate of the Shaheed Smarak will be broken, he said.
"I have been forced to begin this hunger strike as the state government is dragging its feet over introducing a strict land law. It first said it would be brought on November 9 (state foundation day) and now it is saying it will be brought in the budget session of the state assembly," he said.
Among their demands are nullifying amendments made to land laws after 2018 and defining domicile clearly.
"We want the state government to revoke all the amendments made to land laws since 2018 in the name of investments. We also want it to make public the draft of the new land law before it is brought in the assembly. We want that the interests of the original inhabitants of the state should be protected," Dimri said.
Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami has maintained that a strict land law will soon be brought in the state.
(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)