Squatters rights? The Abdullahs of Kashmir are occupying prime property for selves in Lutyens' Delhi

Here is a fool-proof plan for squatting on priceless government property.

Step 1: Enter politics. Win an election. Step 2: Occupy a government bungalow. Step 3: Split from family. Step 4: Occupy another bungalow. Step 5: Repeat steps 1 to 4 for several generations.

If you think the plan is unviable, take inspiration from the Abdullahs of Kashmir who, reports suggest, are occupying prime property for self and estranged wives, children and grandchildren, not just in Jammu and Kashmir, but also in Lutyens’ Delhi.

The Abdullahs, arguably the first family of Kashmir, are the most famous residents of Srinagar’s Gupkar Road. Till 2002, Omar Abdullah and his father Farooq used to live under the same roof, in the house allotted to the CM.

But that year Omar Abdullah moved out of the CM residence and occupied another house a few blocks away. Though media reports claimed differences within the family, Omar claimed the government bungalow was too small for the clan.

“Fourteen of us under the same roof. There are just three bedrooms in the house,” the son explained his reason for relocation. It seems another split in the clan happened a few years later, leading to another inevitable occupation of prime property in Delhi.

According to The Times of India , Omar’s wife has been staying in New Delhi’s 7, Akbar Road, a type-VIII sprawling bungalow, in the heart of the capital since 1999. Payal Abdullah, estranged from Omar Abdullah in 2011, has resisted all attempts by the J&K resident commission estate officer to evict her. As an estranged wife, Payal insists, it’s her legal right to contest the eviction and live in the bungalow allotted to her husband, the newspaper reports.

“Omar Abdullah has deserted his wife and children in the premises in question,” she contends. She cites a Supreme Court judgment to back her claim that the ruling gives the right to a deserted wife to contest eviction proceedings from premises tenanted by her husband.

Consider the ridiculous scenario: A husband and wife have a tiff, get separated and, instead of the family redistributing its personal property, settling, resettling, relocating different factions of the family, a government bungalow gets illegally occupied. God forbid if the marital disputes become the norm among elected representatives, India would soon run out of habitable bungalows!

Prime facie, Payal Abdullah has no right over the bungalow. But she has managed to stay on citing threat to herself and the great grandchildren of Sheikh Abdullah, who “played a significant role in the accession of the state of J&K with the Union of India”.

Another intriguing fact is how did the Abdullahs get hold of this bungalow in Delhi? No other CM in India is entitled to a permanent residence in the Indian capital. During their visits to Delhi they are expected to stay in guest houses owned by their state governments. By this yardstick, even the Abduallahs would have been entitled to staying only in the J&K House in New Delhi.