JPC Chairman Jagdambika Pal visits Vijayapura gets petitions from farmers over Waqf land controversy

VIJAYAPURA: After controversy erupted over the Waqf land issue in Karnataka, Chairman of the Joint Parliamentary Committee on the Waqf (Amendment) Bill Jagdambika Pal visited and conducted a meeting with the farmers, whose land has been declared as ‘Waqf property’ in Karnataka.

The JPC Chairman visited Vijayapura upon a request by JPC member and Bengaluru South MP Tejasvi Surya, to understand the concerns of farmers on their agricultural land being claimed by the Waqf Board.

After having an interaction with the farmers JPC chairman said that he received a memorandum from the farmers and he will present it before the JPC.

“Farmers met us and gave a memorandum and said that they used to do farming on the land for centuries and they had land deeds for it but now we are getting notice from the board. So will we be submitting the memorandum before the JPC,” said Jagdambika Pal while speaking with media on Thursday.   BJP MLA Basanagouda Patil Yatnal who was present during Pal’s visit said “JPC Chairman and Tejasvi Surya visited today and we had demanded that all Waqf property should be declared as national property and they had assured us that our demands will be discussed in JPC meeting. And all farmers deligation will be called upon to Delhi and will be heard.”

In Vijayapura District, Karnataka, there has been a significant rise in land claims by the Waqf Board, affecting farmers’ ancestral lands, temples, government buildings, and even centrally protected monuments under the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI).

This situation has caused severe distress among local farmers and landowners, who are witnessing their generational land rights challenged without proper notification or due process.

More than 15,000 acres in Vijayapura District alone have been claimed, including ancestral farmland vital for local farmer’s livelihoods. Over 1,500 acres of Farm Land across 89 survey numbers in Honavada village in Tikota Taluk alone have been unilaterally claimed as Waqf property, according to a press statement.

Many farmers in Babaleshwar Taluk have also received notices stating that their lands are now classified as Waqf property under the Waqf Act. Claims extend to temples and mutt lands, such as the Someshwara Temple (Chalukyan era) and Virakta Mutt (dating to the 12th century), added the statement.

MP Tejasvi Surya had requested last week for the JPC chairman to visit Vijayapura and understand the plight of the farmers under the Congress Government in Karnataka. Addressing the media regarding the visit, Surya said, “I am thankful to JPC Chairman Jagdambika Pal for taking time to meet with farmers of Vijayapura, Hubballi, Belagavi and other regions of North Karnataka to understand the issue of their agricultural lands being wrongfully claim it by the Waqf Board.”

“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 added.

“Members of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) raised the voice of such farmers and demanded that the changes in the revenue records, including unilateral changes in the RTC, mutation and Pahani made without even serving notices to the property owners concerned, be reversed and the unconstitutional Waqf Adalats be stopped immediately. However, CM Siddaramaiah made mere token announcements to cancel any recent changes made in the revenue records. Waqf Adalats have not been stopped and the notices have not been withdrawn to all farmers concerned yet,” Surya said further.

In Vijayapura district, out of the 4,373 Waqf properties, there are only 14 schools, 2 hostels, 7 colleges and 1 orphanage, while the rest are 1,311 masjids, 649 dargahs, 583 graveyards and 23 madrasas. What’s more, 43 ASI-protected sites in Vijayapura, including the Gol Gumbaz and Ibrahim Roza, have been claimed by the Waqf Board since 2005.

Encroachments and unauthorized constructions have taken place on these sites, impacting their heritage value. Requests by the ASI to correct records have been ignored, allegedly under the Waqf Board’s influence. (ANI)