Kashmir MLA ‘boycotts’ L-G’s drug campaign after demolition drive in his constituency

A legislator from north Kashmir on Wednesday (May 13, 2026) boycotted Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha’s anti-drug campaign after police demolished the house of a local from his constituency in north Kashmir “in an eight-year-old case in which the accused was acquitted and not convicted”.

Sheikh Khursheed, a leader of the Awami Ittehad Party (AIP), representing Langate constituency in north Kashmir, live-streamed the demolition of a two-storey house on Facebook on May 11 and later decided to boycott the L-G’s march in Baramulla and Handwara in north Kashmir “as a sign of protest”.

MLA Khursheed, who is also the brother of jailed Member of Parliament Engineer Rashid, said, “BJP and LG’s so-called demolition drive is aimed at making locals homeless in the name of war on drugs. The Supreme Court (SC) orders that no house should be demolished without notice or order are being violated. In this case, the officials I spoke to informed me that they did not have any order. Yet the bulldozers demolished the house.”

He said the affected family managed to build the house after “selling a plot of land”.

“The family could not even change their clothes or kitchen utensils. They were all trapped under the rubble. The sin of the family is that one of its members was booked under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act eight years ago, was later acquitted and is now working as an employee in Srinagar. He is not a prisoner,” Mr. Khursheed said.

He said that the LG went on a march to stop the drug menace in Kashmir. “If we are concerned about our health, why isn’t alcohol banned as well?” said Mr. Khursheed.

Mr. Khursheed urged the Inspector General of Police (IGP) and Superintendent of Police (SP) to stop “targeting for demolitions” in the districts. “We will knock on the door of the Supreme Court. The people of Langate will not tolerate such attacks,” Mr. Khursheed said.

He also asked elected representatives of other parties to question the LG on what he called “arbitrary actions”. “Why are they silent on this issue? Why is J&K Chief Minister Omar Abdullah silent?” he said.

The MLA demanded action against bureaucrats and politicians involved in rapes in J&K. “Senior BJP leaders illegally encroached on land and built houses in Jammu. The Chief Minister promised action in the assembly. Why was no action taken?” said Mr. Khursheed.

Meanwhile, LG Sinha attended the ‘Nasha-Mukt Jammu Kashmir Campaign’ Padyatra in Kupwara on Wednesday, May 13, 2026 and addressed a meeting. “For decades, people in J&K have seen drugs and terrorism as separate threats. But these are not two problems; these are two heads of the same snake. One head makes money through drugs and the other uses this money to fuel terrorism,” Mr. Sinha said.

In the final month of the campaign, official figures said 700 locals involved in drug threats had been arrested and dozens of houses demolished or annexed by police.

During a demolition drive in Langate area, police said they demolished two shops and two residences of “notorious NDPS accused” Abdul Rehman Bhat, a resident of Shartpora Langate. According to the police, Bhat built the house “illegally on Kahcharie (community) land”.

“The demolition was carried out in the presence of Administrative Judge Class 1 and other relevant officials after all legal formalities were completed. The property was determined to be linked to narcotics-related activities and formed part of a wider attack against drug traffickers and their support infrastructure,” police said.