A direction has been issued by the Karnataka government to stop all property mutation procedures related to the purported Waqf Board registration of farmers’ land and other private properties. Amid growing worries about property rights and illegal administrative activities, the ruling was made public.
In addition to directing the removal of any notices associated with these instances, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah ordered the immediate suspension of all pending property mutations.
In order to provide farmers who are actively farming lands engaged in the dispute with respite from the threat of losing their property rights, the Chief Minister has also urged officials to make sure that no action is taken against them.
Additionally, officials who are discovered to have issued orders without the required authorisation will face disciplinary action from the state administration, which is run by Congress.
The instruction was issued the day after more than 500 petitions from farmers in the northern regions of Karnataka who claimed that their lands were marked as Waqf holdings were received by Jagdambika Pal, the chairman of the Joint Committee of Parliament on the Waqf (Amendment) Bill.
Tejasvi Surya, a BJP MP and JPC member, claims that he and Pal visited the districts of Hubballi, Vijayapura, and Belagavi, where farmers and representatives of other organisations reported that the State Waqf Board was claiming their properties.
“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’s office said in a statement.
However, Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar said, the tour of Pal and Surya was “politically motivated”, with an eye on the upcoming assembly by-polls in the state and election in neighbouring Maharashtra.
Karnataka’s opposition BJP has been protesting, claiming that the Congress government is engaging in “land jihad.” Additionally, the party has called for Waqf Minister Zameer Ahmed Khan to be removed from his position in the Cabinet.
