BELAGAVI: The ruling Congress government and opposition BJP sparred over the Waqf Board land controversy, during a debate in the assembly under Rule 69.
“Waqf Board has been entered in land records of 1,11,874 acres in Karnataka, with or without serving notice to the cultivators. As promised, the chief minister should withdraw all Waqf notices and remove the Waqf Board name from column 11 and 9 of the records,” Leader of Opposition R Ashoka said, during a debate under Rule 69 over the Waqf Board controversy.
Claiming that ‘Waqf Board’ had appeared on property records of farmers, temples, mutts and public properties, creating worry among the people, Ashoka said, “Of the 1,11,874 lakh acres of land declared as Waqf property in the state, 84,000 acres are declared as disputed land.
A notice served to the ancient Lakshmi Temple in Srirangapatna had ‘Waqf Board’ in its records. Similarly, 120 acres of land around Avenue Road in Bengaluru comes under Waqf, so does forest land in Sirsi taluk. A government school where Sir M Visvesvaraya did his schooling is now Waqf property,” he said.
MLA B Vijayendra said with Waqf Board entered in column 11 in the land records, farmers cannot take loans or sell their property. “This government is doing this just to appease the minorities. The government should stop this injustice against farmers and cancel the Waqf gazette passed in the year 1972,” he said.
“After the Indian Army and Indian Railways, Waqf Board has highest number of properties in the state. The DC bungalow, SP office and many other government properties are now Waqf property.
A police station and police headquarters in Aland are Waqf properties. The original Anubhava Mantap has become Peerbasha Dargah... The government should immediately withdraw the notices and remove Waqf from land records and support the Waqf amendment law being brought by the Central government,” Vijayapura MLA Basanagouda Patil Yatnal said.
Responding to the debate, ruling group MLA Rizwan Mohmmad said, “The opposition is misleading the entire state with false information.
The BJP government had issued the highest notices in its previous term and said that 90 per cent of the land is acquired by Muslims. We welcomed their step and supported them but now the BJP is taking a U-turn after the Central government brought the Waqf Amendment Bill.
The actual disputed Waqf land is only 4,500 acres, but BJP is unnecessarily creating an issue instead of resolving it and helping farmers.”