Mirza Afzal Beg ended feudalism with one stroke of pen: Mehboob Beg

Anantnag, Jun 11: “Late Mirza Mohammad Afzal Beg ended Jagirdari and Chakdari with a single stroke of the pen, something even big countries could not do,” People’s Democratic Party (PDP) leader and chief spokesperson Mehboob Beg said on Wednesday.
Speaking to reporters on his father’s death anniversary here, Beg said, “It was not as easy as we think to end Jagirdari and Chakdari. Their roots were so strong that even big countries could not fight against them. But look at Mr. Beg’s intention for the welfare of the people; he ended it with just a pen.”
He said that 75 per cent of the population then lived in villages, and the urbanisation seen today is a recent development. “I was reading an article today which said that if Beg’s intention was not there, this reform would not have been possible,” he said.
Mehboob said, “The communist parties in Kerala and other states took a big step later, but we had already done it. The period we went through, the turmoil, when we used to shut down for several months, and if you look at it today, by the grace of Allah, even now, there is not as much poverty here as in the rest of the country.”
He said the main reason for this is the land reforms. “There are no two opinions about the leadership of Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah, but he neither had a background in law nor had seen this legal side of revenue. He could not have done it, but it happened under his leadership,” he said.
Referring to the 1952 Delhi Agreement, the PDP leader said, “At the national level, B.R. Ambedkar gave a document, a law, with the help of which governments are functioning. We have only heard of Nehru, Nehru, Nehru. But there are others too. Mirza Afzal Beg was three in one, like Sardar Patel, like Ambedkar. He tried to do all that.”
On the abrogation of Article 370 on August 5, 2019, Beg said, “I have said this many times, not from my side, but quoting Kapil Sibal, one of the top 10 legal minds in a country of 140 crore. He said in the Supreme Court that ‘something unknown to law has happened,’ meaning it happened outside the legal framework.”
“Late Beg Sahib had made strong chains to safeguard our legal rights. But now, decisions are being taken based on majoritarianism. His two contributions, be it land reforms or legal safeguards, remain everlasting,” he added
Taking a dig at senior National Conference (NC) leader and Member Parliament (MP), Agha Ruhullah Mehdi, the senior PDP leader said, “He (Ruhullah) is a rebel of a palace.”
“Someone wrote a beautiful article yesterday, saying he is a rebel who sits in a palace. No rebel sits in a palace. He must leave it to be called a rebel, like Mehbooba Mufti, like the PDP. Only then will it be accepted. Otherwise, it won’t be,” Beg said.