Zoya Zahed, BA.LLB, Gujarat National Law University, Gujarat
ABSTRACT
Illegal encroachments in India, in recent times, have become a pressing issue in the country’s political landscape. The concept of possession in India is not straightforward as it was not just a product of colonialism but can be traced all the way back to the caste system. It is in this context that this research paper seeks to examine the concept of possession, considering the various ways in which an individual’s identities can intersect to create oppression, specifically in the form of dispossessing marginalized communities of their land in urban areas, where such dispossession is an arbitrary exercise of state power appearing to target members belonging to certain communities as recently seen in the Jahangirpuri demolition. This research paper aims to provide solutions to the problem of illegal encroachments on public land by the urban poor through an intersectional approach in order to foster lasting reform at a systemic level.
Keywords: possession, encroachment, urban poor, public land
