Khalsa Land issue in GB.

The region of Gilgit-Baltistan is in the news again and this time re garding the Khalsa land issue.: The Sikh Empire which was formed under Ranjit Singh lasted for 50 years and the empire was officially known as Sarkar-iKhalsa. The Sikh invasion of Gilgit and its subsequent attacks for occupation of the occupied lands were referred to as the Khalsa Sarkar lands. Sikhs struggled to maintain their control for four years before Dogras established their foothold in 1861. Since then the terms 'Khalsa Sarkar' and 'Nautore' have been in use. The Khalsa land is unoccupied barren land, which is the property of the government, and by virtue of the concept introduced by the Sikhs government claim the ownership of land. In case of Nautore (waste reclaimed) locals (selected) were allowed to use wasteland for cultivation. During the Dogra regime, all the cultivatable and barren land was recorded by the settlement department and taxes were collected. First, the settlement was done in Skardu in 1887 and the settlement in Gilgit started in 1906. Proper records were maintained for tax purposes and all the pastures, deserts and barren lands were declared Khalsa land. At the time of the settlement, the district Gilgit comprised of Gilgit, Astor and Bunnji. A comprehensive assessment report (1914 to 1916) was compiled by Thakur Singh settlement officer of Gilgit. The report was endorsed and commented by wazir wazarat, political agent and a resident of Kashmir. Details of lands, cultivation and income discussed including Khalsa land, nautore and trees on roads declared state property. Professor Usman Ali in his book 'Gilgit Ki Roug Kahani' described the atrocities and cruelties of Rajas and later by Sikhs and Dogras on the people of Gilgit. Dogras levied extensive taxes and introduced different concept like 'kar-begar' (forced labour), 'begar-doodh' (tax on milk), 'Hukmi Kharid' forced purchased of grain from farmers. According to wazir wazarat in 1861, Mian Jawhir Singh, to meet the requirement of garrison at Gilgit, every village was made to pay revenue on land, fruit trees, goats, butter, water mills and grazing of goats. Shops on Khalsa land were also liable to pay tax. The people protested and resentment was shown against these inhuman taxes but to no avail. Nautore rules were introduced by the Dogra regime in 1936 to bring under cultivation the barren/Khalsa lands. The Gilgit Nautore Rules were introduced in 1942 and land was allotted to locals based on...