VIJAYAPURA: Accusing BJP leaders of spreading canards in the name of Waqf properties only to gain political mileage, District in-charge and Industries Minister MB Patil on Sunday reiterated that the Waqf Board has not acquired farmers’ land in Honawad village of Tikota taluk.
He told reporters that BJP leaders are misleading people by giving false and unsubstantiated information on Waqf properties. “BJP leaders are claiming that the government is acquiring land of Hindus and getting it registered as Waqf properties in Vijayapura district. Leave alone acquiring land, the board has not even issued any notice to any farmer in Tikota taluk or Honawad village,” he said.
On the allegations made by BJP leaders like MP Tejasvi Surya and MLA Basanagouda Patil Yatnal that the properties of Hindus have been included in Waqf properties, Patil said, “The original owners of Waqf properties are Muslims. But due to the delay in updating notified properties in the Revenue Department by the Waqf Board, some 30 per cent Muslims have sold their properties to Hindus. This has happened in the past, not today.”
He also said that while notifying Waqf properties in 1974, the board had committed a mistake by wrongly including Honawad in the survey. However, in 1977, the board corrected the mistake, he claimed by displaying the government record on that.
Denying that Honawad village has over 1,500 acres of land belonging to Waqf, Patil said that the village has only 10.29 acre Waqf land.
He claimed that of the total 14,201 acre notified property by the Waqf Board in Vijayapura district, some 12,083 acre is under dispute after the land was either given under the Land Reforms Act or Inams Abolition Act in the past.
“Now, the challenge before the government is to find a solution to this disputed 14,201 acre of land. Since it is a tricky issue, we will seek legal opinion,” he said.
The minister also said that a task force comprising the DC, tahsildars and assistant commissioners will be constituted to find out the land documents of the district between 1964 and 1974 to ascertain which land belongs to Waqf and which is owned by individuals. He also denied Yatnal’s allegations that Waqf Tribunal has only Muslim officials and judges.