Srinagar, June 27 -- Land tells complicated stories in Kashmir. It carries generations of names, often written neatly in old revenue records. But when the government comes calling to acquire land for highways or big infrastructure, the story sometimes takes a turn no one expects. The person who holds the land is often not the person who owns it.

Here is where the problem begins.

Take a common situation. The official land records, what we call the Jamabandi, show that Person A owns a piece of land. But the land has been in the hands of Person B for years. Maybe Person B has fenced it, maybe he has been growing crops there, maybe no one paid attention.

When the government starts acquisition proceedings, Person B steps forward with a simp...