Onlykashmir.in News Desk
On March 20, 2025, Sunil Sharma, the Leader of the Opposition in the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly, during the ongoing Budget Session introduced the term “Legislative Jihad” during a session discussing the Grants of Departments.
Sharma, a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA from Padder-Nagseni, alleged that this so-called “Legislative Jehad” was being employed to protect land encroachers in the Union Territory.
He specifically criticized the National Conference (NC) and its leader, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, accusing them of promoting a “two-nation theory” and opposing the rights of non-residents to purchase land in Jammu and Kashmir.
Sharma’s remarks sparked a response from Omar Abdullah, who challenged the use of the term “jihad,” questioning whether Sharma intended to imply that Muslims are only capable of such actions, thereby urging caution to avoid offending religious sentiments.
Chief Minister Omar Abdullah questioned LoP Sharma’s repeated use of the term ‘Jihad’ in a political context, saying, “What does the LoP want to prove? That Muslims don’t know anything except Jihad?”
Sharma further argued that legislative measures were being manipulated to favor encroachers, citing a committee report that identified 689 encroachers in the Tawi River area, predominantly from a specific community and region.
He also questioned why the full Indian Constitution should not apply in Jammu and Kashmir simply due to its Muslim-majority population, framing his stance as a defense of national unity.
Over the years, terms like Love Jihad, Land Jihad, Population Jihad, Economic Jihad, and others have been used primarily in political, social, and ideological discourse for various reasons to create a sense of threat among specific communities, influencing voting patterns and political loyalty.
Interestingly, certain sections of the media use these terms to attract viewership and engagement by amplifying controversial narratives.
