Karnataka has witnessed a 38 per cent increase in the number of notices issued by the Wakf Board in the last two months, after the 31-member Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) on the Waqf (Amendment) Bill was constituted, said JPC chairman Jagadambika Pal, who visited Karnataka on Thursday to meet the farmers, individuals and religious mutt heads and associations who had received Wakf notices claiming that their ancestral lands belonged to the Wakf board.
Pal, who visited Hubballi and Vijayapura districts at the behest of Karnataka BJP MP Tejaswi Surya (also a JPC member) and Union minister Shobha Karandlaje, stated that the sudden changes to the land records (RTC/pahani) of thousands of farmers, religious mutts, schools and temples was not possible without the “cooperation” of the government officials.
“I met around 70 farmer associations and saw that farmers’ land, temple property and lands owned by religious mutts and schools and 43 historical monuments managed by Archaeological Survey of India that have been declared as Wakf property. Around 15,000 acres have been declared as Wakf property though the farmers have been tilling these lands since the 1930s. Surprisingly, these land records are changed despite the owners possessing authentic revenue records. The state government instructing revenue officials to withdraw the notices will not solve the problem,” said Pal, adding that he had received similar complaints from various districts including Hubballi, Bidar, Gulbarga, Shivamogga and Yadgir. The fact-finding committee headed by MP Govind Karjol, constituted by the state BJP, submitted its report to the JPC chief.
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Acknowledging the problem, Pal said that a Wakf notice would compel the farmer to appear before the Wakf Tribunal, which holds the power to declare any property as ‘Wakf’ even if the Wakf Board does not possess any document to prove its ownership.
“This is a serious big problem. The victims will have to forfeit their ancestral lands. The committee has already visited several parts of the country to study the problem. We will be visiting Bhubaneswar and Kolkata tomorrow,” said Pal.
Several farmers associations complained that the Wakf notices had been issued after Wakf minister Zameer Ahmed Khan started holding "Wakf adalats" in every district and gave oral orders to the district authorities to issue notices.
Vijayapura MLA Basanagouda Patil Yatnal, who, along with Shobha Karandlaje, was on an indefinite strike (day-and-night dharna) for the last three days demanding revoking of the 1974 gazette notification of Wakf properties, withdrew the dharna following an assurance from Pal that he would summon the revenue officials responsible for issuing the notices.
“The Modi government has mooted 42 amendments to this draconian Wakf Act and referred it to the JPC as it poses a major threat of the Wakf claiming any and every piece of land as its own. How did the Wakf properties increase from 5.8 lakh to 9.5 lakh in a span of five years (from 2019 to 2024)? We want Wakf to be abolished in India,” said Yatnal.
“The JPC has been constituted by the Lok Sabha Speaker and we will submit a report on the ground realities as part of the recommendations to the proposed amendment,” said Pal.
“This is land jihad and Vijayapura case where 16,000 acres of farmers’ land has been marked as belonging to the Wakf (in RTC/Pahani) will serve as an example to illustrate the perils of the existing Wakf Act and help the Parliament amend the Act,” said Karandlaje.
Shafi Sa-adi, former chairman of state Wakf board said no one has the authority to revoke the 1974 gazette notification. “Once a Wakf, always a Wakf. The state government does not have any powers to cancel a central gazette. Reclaiming the Wakf lands is part of our 70-year-old struggle. We will not heed to any politician or officers if they ask our Wakf officers to withdraw the notices issued to the encroachers,” said Sa-adi, adding that the Muslim community was only exercising restraint by not reacting to the ongoing political game.
“Our tolerance too has a limit. We are ready to fight against any conspiracy against us. We want all the encroached Wakf properties to be recovered. We want the government and the political parties to unite and fight against the encroachers. We want the Wakf adalats being conducted by the Wakf minister to continue,” said Sa-aadi, while speaking to reporters on the current row.
Meanwhile, the state Congress leaders dubbed Pal’s visit as a “political drama”. Deputy chief minister D.K. Shivakumar said the JPC chief’s visit was only a “political stunt” as such visits, as a norm, follow certain protocols.
“The JPC chairman has come to the state for a (BJP) party event. He has not followed the protocol of informing the state government and the officials concerned. Even after the chief minister instructed officials to withdraw the notices, the BJP wants to keep the issue alive due to the bypolls,” alleged the KPCC chief.
State Home Minister G. Parameshwar wondered how a JPC chief could visit without being accompanied by the members.
“The JPC members have objected to the chief visiting Karnataka alone. This visit is with political malice,” said Parameshwara.
It may be recalled that Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju, in August, had introduced The Waqf (Amendment) Bill and proposed sending it to a joint parliamentary committee after Opposition parties objected to its proposal. Subsequently, a 31-member Joint Parliamentary Committee including 21 Lok Sabha MPs and 10 Rajya Sabha MPs was constituted to look into the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2024. The bill is likely to be tabled in the upcoming winter session of the Parliament.
