Most political issues have a shelf life. They peak during elections and taper off soon after that. However, the Waqf land controversy, which has raised a political storm in Karnataka and created ripples in other poll-bound states, is unlike others. If the allegations made by the BJP leaders and claims by farmers are anything to go by, this could have serious repercussions on people who are apprehensive about losing their properties as well as on the social fabric.
In the run-up to the November 13 bypolls to three assembly segments in Karnataka, and fiercely fought assembly polls in Maharashtra and Jharkhand, leaders from Congress, BJP, and other political parties are engaged in a bitter political slugfest over the Waqf Board’s notices to farmers and changes in the land records. Beyond elections, the issue could have far-reaching consequences.
When the Waqf Amendment Bill 2024 was proposed by the NDA government in August this year, the Congress-led opposition termed it as “vendetta politics” against minorities. However, the aggressive stance by the state government and Waqf board put Congress on the back foot and weakened its larger strategy to oppose the Bill at the national level.
As the notices about land records left several farmers aggrieved, it also raised questions if the Congress and its government’s attitude had emboldened officials to go overboard with their actions. In some cases, changes were made in land records without even issuing notices.
While the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) on the Waqf Amendment Bill 2024 is looking into the amendments to the law, on its part, the State Government had not anticipated such a backlash to its aggressive measures.
Now, after farmers started expressing concerns and opposition BJP raised the matter in Karnataka and other states, the Siddaramaiah government has gone into a damage control mode.
Although it announced that the notices served to farmers would be withdrawn and no genuine landowners would be evicted, new cases of people noticing changes in land records are coming to light from many parts of the state.
As JPC Chairman Jagadambika Pal put it, complaints were pouring in from many districts and there was a 38% increase in issuing of notices in the last two months after the parliamentary committee was formed.
Pal, who visited Karnataka earlier this week to meet the aggrieved persons, also claimed that modifications to the land records could not have been done without the complicity of state officials.
The state government criticized the JPC chief’s visit, terming it an attempt to mislead people. Purely going by the procedural aspects of the functioning of the JPC, its chief’s visit to the state to meet aggrieved persons may be unusual. However, since Karnataka has become the epicentre of the controversy, one has to consider its possible impact on the JPC’s exercise. The committee will soon be submitting its report.
Karnataka Minister for Housing, Minority Welfare and Waqf, BZ Zameer Ahmed Khan, and his department may be asserting the provisions of the law to deliver benefits to the community. Of the 1.08 lakh acres of Waqf property, nearly 85,000 acres have been encroached, the minister claimed during a Waqf Adalat in Kalaburgi.
However, some Congress legislators were of the view that the entire episode should have been handled in a better manner. There was no need to adopt such an aggressive stance that could create animosity between the communities. If the notices had also been served during the BJP rule, the government should have exposed it, instead of unnecessarily getting involved in the controversy that could damage its prospects, they felt.
As the elections come to a close in the next few days, the state government must urgently take the initiative to resolve the issue by taking into confidence all parties concerned — including the aggrieved farmers, property owners and opposition parties.
Not just the Waqf land controversy, Congress was also caught on the wrong foot in a debate over the state government’s guarantee schemes. AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge publicly directed the state leaders not to create confusion about the schemes, which lent an opportunity to BJP leaders to hit out at Congress.
At times, it seems as if Congress has a knack for getting itself into avoidable controversies!