Waqf properties row: JPC Chairman receives over 500 petitions from aggrieved farmers in Karnataka

Hubballi/Vijayapura (Karnataka): Over 500 petitions were received by the Chairman of the Joint Committee of Parliament on the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, Jagdambika Pal, along with the JPC member and Bengaluru South MP Tejasvi Surya, on Thursday from farmers in Karnataka's northern districts, who alleged that their lands were marked as Waqf properties.

Pal visited Hubballi, Vijayapura and Belagavi, during which he met farmers and members of various organisations who complained that their lands were being claimed by the State Waqf Board.

"Jagdambika Pal along with Surya received over 500 petitions from farmers from Vijayapura, Bidar, Kalaburagi, Hubballi, Bagalkote and Belgavi on their agricultural land being claimed by the Waqf Board as Waqf property," Surya office said in a statement.

Stating that he had come to the State on a "fact finding" mission and to meet those aggrieved, Pal said, farmers' and various organisations have handed over to him documents and memorandums and assured that all of them will be discussed in the JPC and incorporated in the report.

"Maybe the state government has given directions to the revenue department officials not to evict the farmers, but will the issue be resolved? There has been tampering of records, mutations, Waqf has ensured changes in the documents. What is the state government doing on this and who is responsible for this?" he asked.

Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar termed the visit of Pal to the state as a tour of a "drama company" and "politically motivated", with an eye on the upcoming assembly by-polls in the state and election in neighbouring Maharashtra.

Charging the JPC Chairman with indulging in political propaganda, Shivakumar, who is also the state Congress President, said it is not a joint Parliamentary committee that is visiting, as "only BJP members have come and are doing politics." Home Minister G Parameshwara too said, "it doesn't look like JPC as a committee is visiting, as the Chairman is visiting alone disregarding rules. "It seems to be a politically motivated visit." Members of the committee too have raised objections stating that any visit has to be decided in the panel and "unilaterally one cannot make visits," he said.

Later, addressing a gathering during his visit to Vijayapura, Pal said, "....what is the hurry for some one, when a transparent law (Waqf law) coming into force, to go to every district to conduct adalats (Waqf adalats) and declare the lands as Waqf properties?".

Further highlighting various incidents and petitions submitted to him by farmers, groups and individuals, he said, the state government has to answer why such things are happening in the state.

"Why notices are being given to farmers who are cultivating in land since 1920 and 1930, even before the law is enacted?" he asked, while pointing out that farmers have claimed that apart from serving notices, changes have been made in the RTC (Record of Rights, Tenancy and Crops), pahani and mutation registers.

Noting that the Karnataka Waqf board has laid claim to at least 53 historic Archeological survey of India protected monuments across the state, Pal asked, "how is it a Waqf property?" There were allegations by a section of farmers from Vijayapura district that their lands were marked as Waqf properties, and similar charges have surfaced from few other places subsequently. Similar allegations have also been made by some organisations and religious institutions like Maths.

With the row escalating, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, directed officials that all notices issued to farmers be immediately revoked, and any unauthorised amendments in land records without due notice must also be nullified.

The opposition BJP has been holding protests, accusing the Congress government of indulging in "land jihad". The party has also demanded the sacking of Waqf Minister Zameer Ahmed Khan from the Cabinet.

Surya had recently written to Pal, drawing attention to the plight of farmers from Vijayapura District and other areas in the vicinity in Karnataka, who have been served notices claiming their land as Waqf property.

Surya said, “The exponential rise in the number of instances in Karnataka where agricultural lands are being claimed by the State Waqf Board is happening during a period in which the Joint Parliamentary Committee on the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2024, is meeting to deliberate on the reforms for the Waqf Act, 1995." “The Karnataka Minority Affairs and Waqf Minister Zameer Ahmed Khan has been conducting ‘Waqf Adalats’ in several parts of the state. Such Waqf Adalats do not have any valid status under the Constitution or any of the Revenue Department Rules," he said.

Surya alleged that the CM made mere token announcements to cancel any recent changes made in the revenue records, but Waqf adalats have not been stopped and the notices have not been withdrawn to all farmers concerned yet.