Anwar Manippaddy urges Karnataka government to conduct inquiry on findings of his report on waqf properties

If the State government is committed to protecting the interest of Muslims, it should first go deep into the findings of his report on the alleged encroachment of waqf properties and take action against the accused, said former chairman of Karnataka State Minorities Commission Anwar Manippaddy in Mangaluru on Wednesday.

Talking to reporters, Mr. Manippaddy said in his 300-page report he pointed out encroachment of 29,000 acres of 54,000 acres of waqf property in the State. “If the government goes deep into it and conducts an inquiry, there will be clarity on what is a waqf property and what is not. Instead of issuing notices to owners of farmland, the government should first act against encroachers of waqf property. The 29,000 acre property should be used for the welfare of Muslims,” he said.

Criticising the State government’s move to issue notices to owners of farmland , Mr. Manippaddy said: “If there is no fault in issuing notices, then why did Chief Minister Siddaramaiah issue instruction to officials to withdraw the notices. This shows there is something wrong in issuing notices.”

Issuing notices looks like a deliberate act of the State government to create wedge between Hindus and Muslims, he said.

Mr. Manippaddy said the BJP government failed to act on the report that was submitted in 2012. “We (BJP) then blew away the chance to serve minorities. We lost the opportunity to teach the Congress a proper lesson. The might of capitalists, who were behind the encroachment of waqf property, had its way in forcing the then BJP government to keep my report on the back burner,” Mr. Manippaddy said. “I am happy the BJP has realised its mistake now and is pressing for action on my report,” he added.

It is the findings of his report that made the Central government propose amendments to the Waqf Act. While stating that he does agree with all the 44 proposed amendments to the Waqf Act, Mr. Manippady said he recently gave his statement before the Joint Parliamentary Committee that is looking into the amendments.

Sri Ram Sena chief Pramod Muthilik told reporters that the sena has set up a helpline, 9945288819, for farmers to file public interest litigation against the notification of farmland as waqf property.

The sena has so far helped 22 farmers from Dharward and Vijayapura in removing waqf from the property record, he claimed.

Published - November 20, 2024 07:45 pm IST