The story so far: The ruling Congress and Opposition BJP in Karnataka have locked horns over the allegations of notices being served to farmers by the Waqf Board alleging encroachment. While the issue was first raised in Vijayapura, the BJP has alleged that farmers from Kalaburagi, Bidar, and Shivamogga too have raised similar concerns as their RTCs now find the mention, ‘Waqf property, transaction is banned’.
It is being alleged that farmers are being issued notices seeking eviction of their lands by the Waqf board though they have been cultivating it for over a century and have all the relevant documents to prove their ownership. In just one village in Vijayapura district, the board is trying to claim ownership on nearly 1,500 acres of land, the BJP has alleged.
Despite CM Siddaramaiah, Law Minister H.K. Patil, and Revenue Minister Krishna Byre Gowda assuring withdrawal of notices and reversion of mutations, the saffron party has upped the ante and announced a State-wide protest on November 4, 2024 demanding halting of the process and sacking of Waqf Minister Zameer Ahmed Khan from the Cabinet. BJP MP Tejasvi Surya has also petitioned the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) on Waqf (Amendment) Bill 2024, seeking its intervention in the matter.
Also read: The Waqf Bill 2024 is one that needs review
What is Waqf?
Waqf is an Islamic endowment-based charity, that works on the principles similar to the Trust Act. A philanthropist donates a piece of open land or building, and sets terms for its usage. The donor can also use existing norms for the proceeds of the property.
The proceeds are to be used for the welfare and development of the deprived sections of the community. Traditionally, the beneficiaries are likely to be Muslims, but there is no such rule. The Mansha-e-waqif or intention of the donor has to be respected even after his death. Waqf, by usage, is where the owners allow the community to use land by implied consent or non-objection during the life of the donor.
The term ‘Waqf’ comes from the Arabic word Waqfa, that means full stop or inalienable. It points to the nature of the donation that cannot be revoked. The lands are vested with the Almighty God and can not be taken back, even by the donor. They cannot be sold or leased permanently.
The word waqf is not found in the Holy Quran, but zakat is. There are at least 20 lines in Quran that motivate believers to donate for charity, some even fixing percentage of annual revenue to be set aside for charity.
The caretaker of a mosque submits a memorandum to Govind Karjol, MP and BJP leader, to protect his land from being taken over by the Waqf Board in Vijayapura.
| Photo Credit:
Rajendra Singh Hajari
How are Waqf properties regulated?
Since Islamic law recognises oral donations, it led to a situation where an estimated 50% of donated properties do not have proper documentation. Some countries, including India, cancelled provisions related to family waqfs, but they were later restored. Some countries have fixed time limits for usage of donations like 60 years, or two generations.
The donated property may be held and managed by a charitable trust. It can be a public trust or private trust or a family trust. It is not necessary that it is managed by the waqf board. The trustees are called Mutawalli.
The waqif or donor is likely to be a Muslim, but it is not necessary. There are countless instances where non-Muslims have donated property to dargahs, mosques, orphanages, and old-age homes. One of the biggest colleges in Belagavi and a beggar-feeding centre in Bengaluru were built on land donated by non-Muslims.
The Waqf Board is a statutory body that has ex-officio officers and nominated and elected members. The mutawallis are usually elected, but they can be nominated too. All disputes are placed before the waqf tribunal. It is a judicial agency that is appointed by the High Court and is headed by a district judge. Claims being made currently by the BJP, that the Waqf Board can take over any private land, are hence baseless.
What led to the present dispute?
Leaders like BJP MLA Basanagouda Patil Yatnal have been raising the waqf issue for some years now. But the present controversy began with the Waqf Adalats being held under the chairmanship of B.Z. Zameer Ahmed Khan, Karnataka Minister for Minority Welfare and Waqf.
In a meeting in Vijayapura, he noted that the district had over 14,000 acres of waqf land, but most of it was alienated. He lamented that only around 780 acres had remained now. Officers issued 124 notices to 400 farmers and carried out around 44 mutations to enter claims by the Waqf Board.
Following this, BJP MP from Bengaluru South Tejaswi Surya alleged that the Waqf Board was trying to grab 1,500 acres of land in Honavad village in Vijayapura district.
Minister for Housing, Waqf and Minority Welfare B.Z. Zameer Ahmed Khan interacting with people during Waqf Adalat at Kalaburagi city.
| Photo Credit:
ARUN KULKARNI
Cause for confusion
It turns out that the present confusion arose due to an error in a gazette notification that designates 1,200 acres of land at Honavada in Tikota taluk of Vijayapura district as waqf property.
Industries Minister M.B. Patil, who is also the Vijayapura district in-charge Minister, clarified that only 11 acres out of the 1,200 acres is actually waqf property. This includes a burial ground covering 10 acres and 14 guntas, with an idgah, masjid, and other structures on the remaining 24 guntas. All other land belongs to farmers.
Gazette notifications on waqf properties in Vijayapura district were issued in 1974, 1978, and 2016. In the gazette notification of 1974, the name Honavada was mistakenly added in the brackets after Mahalbagayata, another village in Vijayapura, where waqf property does exist.
Meanwhile, Honavada village, located in Babaleshwar constituency, actually only has 11 acres across 10 survey numbers designated as the waqf property. The waqf board acknowledged the mistake in the 1974 gazette, and corrected it in 1977 by removing “Honavada” from the record. However, in Indi taluk, a tahsildar updated the land records (in column 11 of the Pahanis) for 41 properties without issuing prior notice, violating protocol. The government has said that affected farmers can present land records predating 1974 to the Assistant Commissioner, and any lands verified as legitimate will be denotified.
What is the government’s stand?
Minister M.B. Patil said that in the 1960s and 70s, nearly 12,000 acres was distributed among the landless following the Land Reforms Act and that around 1,400 acres was distributed because of the Inam Abolition Act. He pointed out that Waqf-related Acts did not amount to taking over of properties, but the Waqf Board could only enter a claim in column 11 of the Records of Rights, Tenancy and Crops (RTC). The name of the owner would remain in column 9 of the RTC. He has also said a task force would be constituted to verify the status of these lands between 1964 and 1974.
The ruling party has also cried foul at Mr. Surya’s allegation that the Congress government transferred nine acres of land in Honavad village to the Waqf Board through mutation (entering the Board’s name in farmers land records) in 2022. In 2022, the BJP was in power in Karnataka.
Accusing the Opposition of playing “politics of hate”, Congress leaders have claimed that successive BJP governments had also issued notices to and carried out mutations of private farm lands in favour of the Waqf Board. Several of these farmers were Hindus and Jains, they say. With the Waqf (Amendment) Bill 2024 now before a joint parliamentary committee, the Congress is accusing the BJP of creating an atmosphere of fear and hatred among the people, in anticipation of the Bill’s enactment.
Union Minister Pralhad Joshi, MP Ramesh Jigajinagi, and other BJP leaders meet farmers who are protesting against Waqf Board notices in Vijayapura on October 30, 2024.
| Photo Credit:
Rajendra Singh Hajeri
Interference of elected government
The Bill has some worrying provisions, community leaders say. Syed Shakir Hussein Jahagirdar is a Vijayapura-based lawyer and a member of the Mutawalli Committee of the Purana Kila Dargah. He says the bill could give unbridled powers to the deputy commissioner to convert all waqf lands into government lands.
“This would be nothing but land grab by the government and disenfranchisement of the deprived Muslim community. The real trouble with the Waqf Boards is that they are mismanaged by elected members and officials who have profited from them. They are also run in a way that is different than the intentions of the donor. These need to be regulated so that the community is benefitted. But then, the proposed bill does not seem to have such intentions. It is only aimed at increasing the interference of the elected governments. The Hindutva organisations and the BJP that keep demanding ‘one nation, one law’ for all things, are following double standards when it comes to religious laws. They want the Hindu temples to be given full autonomy, but demand that minority institutions need to be tightly regulated by the government. This is difficult to understand,” he said.
Members of Socialist Democratic Party of India (SDPI) stage a protest at Shiggaon in Haveri district against the proposed amendments to Waqf Act through the Waqf (Amendement) Bill 2024, on September 14, 2024.
| Photo Credit:
SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT
Possible violation of the principles of natural justice
Venkatesh Bubbarjung, a senior advocate in the Karnataka High Court, who has represented several parties in cases related to waqf lands, says the proposed amendment could strip the community of the last resort of community wealth — waqf properties. He also points to the possible violation of the principles of natural justice, as the government, the biggest litigant in civil cases, is given the power to sit in judgment over its disputes.
“The Deputy Commissioner is a government representative at the district level. He cannot decide cases in which he is a party. It cannot be accepted,” Mr Venkatesh said. “Also, the bill will reduce the power of the tribunal, which is headed by a district judge, to the level of an executive magistrate, who is not a member of the judiciary. The proposed bill has potentially dangerous provisions like benefit of presumptive ownership, where the government can seek and get ownership merely by claims. All religious properties are exempt from the ownership claims arising out of adverse possession. But if a waqf property becomes government property, then it becomes vulnerable. No waqf property becomes private property even if its possession is enjoyed by others for centuries. But a government property can lose its status by adverse possession after 12 years. This could lead to chaos and social unrest,” he said.
Published – November 01, 2024 11:21 am IST
