Opinion | When Land Becomes More Precious Than Life

Before taking the next step in a property dispute, ask yourself, Is this land worth losing my brother? Is this inheritance worth my parents’ tears? Is winning the case worth losing my family forever?

An assault was reported at Village Gazian, Miran Sahib, where a dispute over land allegedly turned violent and a man was attacked with a sharp-edged weapon, and reportedly he died on way to hospital. It is still a matter under investigation, and the law will take its course. But one question kept echoing in my mind.How many more families have to bleed before we realise that no piece of land is worth a human life? A few days ago, I had written about how, during my years in the Revenue Department as a Tehsildar, I have witnessed families breaking apart over land and property. Sadly, this is not an isolated reality, it is a growing social crisis.

The official NCRB data paints a heartbreaking picture. In 2019 alone, 2573 people in India were murdered due to property and land disputes. Even today, disputes remain the single largest motive behind murders in our country, claiming thousands of lives every year. Even Jammu & Kashmir has not remained untouched, with official records showing 13 murders due to property and land disputes in 2019, and trend continues in 2025.These are not just statistics.Every number is someone’s father, someone’s son, someone’s brother, someone’s husband.

Every file represents a home where love gave way to litigation, where conversations became court cases, and where relationships were buried long before people were.

“Zameen baantne se sirf hisson ka faisla hota hai,

Dil baant diye jaayein toh naslein toot jaati hain.”

In my office, I often see elderly parents sitting silently while their own children argue over inheritance. The pain on their faces is not because land is being divided, it is because the family they spent a lifetime building is falling apart before their eyes.The land will remain here. We will not.Years from now, nobody will remember who got an extra kanal or a few more marlas. But generations will remember who broke the family, who chose anger over understanding, and who allowed greed to triumph over relationships. Before taking the next step in a property dispute, ask yourself,

Is this land worth losing my brother?

Is this inheritance worth my parents’ tears?

Is winning the case worth losing my family forever?

As Revenue Officers, we can decide matters according to law. But no order, no mutation, no partition, and no decree can restore a relationship once hatred replaces love.If this post makes even one family choose dialogue over violence, compromise over conflict, and relationships over possessions, then it has served its purpose. Because land can always be measured… but the value of a family never can.

Author Zeehan Khan is an officer of the Jammu and Kashmir Administrative Service (JKAS) and is presently serving in the Revenue Department as Tehsildar Handwara.

zeeshanquiet@gmail.com