Demolition of journalist's house in Jammu’: Who is running JDA, elected govt or hidden hands, asks Congress
Jammu, Nov 28: A controversy has erupted over the demolition of the house of a journalist in an “anti-encroachment drive carried out by the Jammu Development Authority (JDA)”, aimed at, what it was described as “bulldozing illegal structures in the Transport Nagar area of Jammu” with the major political parties of J&K joining the cause and questioning the action.
In the same vein, they also used the opportunity to target each other.
The journalist Arfaz Ahmed Daing, who runs a news portal, while speaking to media persons stated that the house on the land in question was in the name of his father, who constructed a house around 40 years ago. He also accused the JDA of selectively targeting his family house.
However, the JDA did not issue any official statement over the entire issue.
Meanwhile, a day after the issue, the Peoples Democratic Party on Friday, November 28, 2025, launched a full-fledged verbal assault on its main political adversary National Conference and the elected government led by it. While the party president and the former Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti expressed her anger on ‘X’, the local PDP unit addressed a press conference in Jammu.
Besides, targeting the Chief Minister, who is also the Minister in-charge of Housing and Urban Development Department, the party also posed questions to the LG administration and the BJP as the Chief Minister in Srinagar obliquely passed the buck to them (LG administration), alleging that no such order for demolition drive was given by him (CM) and the officers were conspiring to defame it (elected government).
Senior PDP leader Varinder Singh Sonu, while addressing a press conference in Jammu, questioned why selectively Daing’s house was demolished.
“They (JDA) said - His (Daing’s) house on three Marlas was described as illegal as it was constructed on state land and the journalist was declared as land grabber. Our question is – what is the status of other neighbouring houses? Were they not constructed on state land and were they not illegal by the same yardstick? We want to ask questions to the elected government as JDA is directly under the control of the Chief Minister. Why was this demolition drive selective?” he questioned.
Sonu alleged, “Both the LG administration-BJP and the elected government are accountable. Why was it (house) demolished without giving any notice? Why was the NC government not allowed PDP’s land bill in the assembly though our party voted for it in the Rajya Sabha elections? The NC government was elected as it had promised to end the “bulldozing” policy. Now it is rendering poor people homeless.”
On the other hand, the Congress is aiming barbs, mainly at its political adversary – BJP, while also questioning the Chief Minister.
Interestingly, former J&K BJP president Ravinder Raina was among the first prominent politicians to visit the spot and extend solidarity with the journalist Daing and his entire family.
He denied that the central government (represented by the LG administration in J&K) gave an order for demolition.
“Central government did not demolish it. We are among those who construct the houses for the poor and not the ones who demolish the houses to render them homeless. Our Prime Minister Narendra Modi Sahib has got crores of houses constructed for the poor across the country without any discrimination under the PM Awas Yojana. Whatever has happened here – is unjust. I assure Daing and his family that justice will be disseminated to them,” Raina said.
“I was away in Rajouri-Poonch. Had I been here yesterday, I would not have allowed it (demolition) to happen,” BJP leader said, while sharing his sympathy with Daing and his family. He also appreciated Daing’s neighbours Kuldeep Raj and his daughter Taniya for announcing to donate their 5-Marla land to the journalist’s family for reconstructing their house. “This is the spirit of our country – we call it Hindustan,” Raina said.
In reaction, senior Congress leader and DDC Suchetgarh Taranjit Singh Tony on Friday called the demolition of Daing’s house by the JDA, as a “brazen act of suppression” aimed at silencing a journalist.
Tony, after visiting the affected journalist and inspecting the demolished structure, said the incident exposes “a dangerous pattern of using government machinery to intimidate those who speak against corruption and nexus within the system.”
He also praised the act of Taniya Sharma, daughter of Kuldeep Sharma, who donated a 5-marla plot to Arfaz after his house was razed.
The Congress leader also demanded to know who issued the demolition order.
“Chief Minister Omar Abdullah says the elected government never approved this. Ravinder Raina says the LG never ordered it. Then who gave JDA the authority to bulldoze a 40-year-old house?” he questioned.
Tony said, “The administration must disclose whether the demolition was done to please someone, or whether JDA acted at the behest of hidden interests.”
He added that selective demolitions expose an attempt to silence those who reveal uncomfortable truths. According to him, if Arfaz’s home of four decades was truly illegal, the administration must explain how electricity, water and other services were sanctioned for so many years.
“Either the structure was legal and this demolition is illegal, or the officers who gave these connections for decades are accountable. You cannot have it both ways,” Tony asserted.
