Minister MB Patil was addressing reporters in Vijayapura on Friday. |Photo credit: Rajendra Singh Hajeri
“The BJP is trying to turn Vijayapura region into a laboratory of Hindutva and divide the people on the basis of religious beliefs. But its plan will not succeed as this is a land of communal harmony,” Minister MB Patil said on Friday Said in Vijayapura.
“The BJP is using the WQ issue to create rifts between communities and spread hatred. It will not succeed as people can see through the conspiracy.
“The BJP is trying to portray the Congress as an anti-Hindu party by claiming that we support the Waqf to take back its land. This is incorrect as the Waqf is a statutory body and regularly issues notifications to clear its land. Encroachments. During its tenure, the BJP took several steps in support of the Waqf Board, including issuing notifications and amending the Records of Rights, Tenancies and Crops (RTCs),” he said.
He released a series of documents to back up his claims and said the Congress would also release a pamphlet containing the BJP’s activities in support of the waqf committee.
The Bharatiya Janata Party, which has been in power at the Center since 2014 and intermittently in the states, is very concerned about the protection of the properties of religious and communal organizations. Its leaders and ministers have made several statements and taken steps to this end. He said when the BJP was in power in the state, it allowed the Waqf Board to take back the properties of farmers, religious places and all religious people. “It’s now running a false campaign campaign against us at the state and national level,” he added.
He cited the example of the BJP government’s shift in 2023, which supported waqfs owning many farmers’ lands.
The then Revenue Minister issued a circular in 2010 regarding the updating of documents on religious and communal organizations. The Chief Secretary had issued a notification in 2010 to eliminate all encroachments on the lands of religious and communal organizations by private individuals, government agencies and companies. The minister pointed out that the Kalaburagi District Commissioner had issued an order for the protection of properties and normative records of religious and communal organizations in 2011 to indicate that removal of encroachments was a continuous process.
The principal secretary for minority welfare had issued an order in 2011 mandating deposit of compensation for acquisition of waqf land into the account of the commission. In 2020, the Deputy Secretary (Land Grants, Ministry of Land Reforms and Revenue) issued an order for marking of wakf properties at the Bhoomi portal. In 2021, the Bharatiya Janata Party government formed district-level working groups to protect the properties of religious and communal organizations.
In 2021, the BJP government issued an order to tag and lock religious and communal organizations’ properties on gramthana lands in Panchatantra and e-Swattu software.
In 2014, the BJP’s election manifesto proposed empowering waqf boards and weeding out violations in consultation with religious leaders.
Citing these instances, Mr. Patil said that in 2019, Congress MP Shobha Karandlaje raised a question in the Assembly seeking information on measures taken to protect the properties of religious and communal organizations, such as geo-tagging and digitization, lease terms, restrictions on state religious and communal organizations. Financial assistance, video conferencing facilities to the Society Organizing Committee.
He said that in Karnataka, when the BJP started making false allegations about the assets of waqfs, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah had ordered the withdrawal of all notifications.
“Even after all this happened, the BJP is still spreading false information among farmers, religious leaders and the general public for political gain and publicity. Didn’t they follow anti-Hindu policies when they were in power? Why are they now claiming that the BJP is the only one supporting A political party for Hindus? he asked.
He said the BJP has politicized religious institutions. He added that the BJP has dragged some innocent mathematicians into the anti-Muslim waqf agitation and they are ignorant of the BJP’s double rhetoric.
“But then we will take steps to convince them of the hypocrisy of the BJP. Addressing a rally in Vijayapura, Sri Adrushya Kadasiddeshwar Swami of Kaneri Math will speak out against the BJP. This is because we are genuine Hindus, but the BJP has fake Hindu leaders who are carrying out false propaganda for political gain,” Mr. Patil claimed.
Published – November 8, 2024 at 7:12 pm (IST)
