Surya slams Waqf Board on land issue

Bengaluru, NT Bureau: BJP leader Tejasvi Surya on Friday said the Karnataka State Board of Waqfs has claimed its ownership over 1,500 acres of ancestral land of farmers in Honvada village in Vijayapura district in North Karnataka. The Bengaluru South MP said that the farmers of Honvada village in Tikota Taluk were served notices declaring their lands as Waqf property "with no evidence or explanation provided". In a statement, Surya alleged that Karnataka Waqf Minister B Z Zameer Ahmed Khan directed the deputy commissioner and revenue officials to register lands in favour of the Waqf Board within 15 days.

"In recent months, farmers from the Vijayapura district have been served notices declaring their lands as waqf property, with no evidence or explanation provided. The extent of these claims is staggering, with nearly 1,500 acres claimed in a single village of Honvada," the BJP leader said.

He alleged, "Khan recently visited and directed the deputy commissioner and revenue officials to register lands in favour of the Waqf Board within 15 days, with the aim to circumventing the reforms being brought in by PM Narendra Modiled government through the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2024." Surya rued that this entire process is being executed in violation of the principles natural justice, sidelining farmers while their land titles are being changed to the Waqf Board's name in revenue records.