Waqf panel chief to meet agitating farmers in Karnataka on Thursday amid land row

BJP MP Jagdambika Pal, who is the chairman of the Joint Committee of Parliament on the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, will visit Karnataka on Thursday to meet farmers protesting against alleged encroachment of their properties by the Waqf Board.
This came after party leader and JPC member Tejasvi Surya had requested Pal to invite farmers from Vijayapura district as witnesses to discuss their land disputes with the Waqf Board. It also came amid a tussle between the BJP MPs and the Opposition during JPC meetings on the Waqf bill.
“The chairman of JPC on the Waqf bill has kindly consented to my request to visit Hubballi and Vijayapura on November 7 to interact with farmers affected by Waqf’s predatory action,” Surya said.
“He will interact with farmer organisations, mutts and petitions given to him will be placed before the JPC,” he added.
In a October 29 letter, Surya highlighted his recent meeting with a delegation of farmers from Vijayapura district and other areas in the vicinity and had requested Pal to visit the affected regions in Karnataka to receive complaints and grievances and also have a public hearing with the farmers adversely impacted by the Waqf Board’s action.
“These farmers, who have cultivated their lands for nearly a century, maintain records dating back to the 1920s and 1930s. In recent months, however, many of them have been served notices declaring their lands as Waqf property, without any accompanying evidence or explanation. The scale of these claims is substantial, with nearly 1,500 acres being designated as Waqf property in their village alone,” he alleged in his letter to Pal.
According to him, the farmers claimed that apart from being served notices, changes have been made in the RTC (Record of Rights, Tenancy and Crops), ‘pahani’ and mutation registers for some of the land parcels without following the due process of law.
Following allegations by a section of farmers from Vijayapura district that their lands were marked as Waqf properties, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has said that none of them will be evicted, and notices issued to them will be withdrawn.
The Chief Minister held a meeting with the revenue department and asked the officials to withdraw all such notices issued to farmers in the district.
The central government introduced the bill in the Lok Sabha on August 8, saying the law was aimed to streamline the Waqf Board’s work and ensure the efficient management of Waqf properties. It was sent to the JPC after Opposition parties and Muslim organisations expressed concerns, claiming that the bill targeted the community and was an infringement on its constitutional rights.