Recently, the Congress state government has been embroiled in a controversy pertaining to the issue of land ownership in Karnataka with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) conducting protests in different parts of the state accusing the Waqf board of ‘land jihad’. The genesis of the current tug-of-war between the Congress and the BJP has its origin in the early weeks of October when Minister for Minority Welfare BZ Zameer Ahmed Khan held waqf hearings all across the state in a bid to recover lands historically registered as waqf.
The term ‘Waqf’ comes from the Arabic word Waqfa, meaning full stop or inalienable. Once donated, the land can neither be taken back, nor can its ownership be transferred through selling or permanent leasing. Most mosques, dargahs, idgahs, graveyards, madrasas, orphanages, ashoor khanas etc. are constructed on waqf lands. Waqf properties across the nation come under the Waqf board that is a statutory body* in India, established under the Waqf Act of 1995 that repealed and replaced the Wakf act of 1954. Each state has its own board charged with the governance of waqf properties within its bounds. The Central Waqf Council oversees the functioning of the state level boards. Currently, the Waqf board is said to be the third largest land-holder in the country.
As stated above, the current flare-up started when many farmers in the village of Honavad of Vijayapura district found their properties to be notified as waqf properties following a ‘Waqf adalat’ in October. The BJP MP Tejasvi Surya came into the picture accusing the Waqf board of usurping 1500 acres of land in the Honavad village. The sudden enthusiasm of the Karnataka BJP in protecting the land rights of farmers fits neatly with its national agenda of amending the Waqf act of 1995. The actual interests of the farmers are in no way a concern for them. Nowhere among Waqf amendments (2024), has there been any provision of distributing land to the landless peasants.
Later investigations revealed that the confusion arose due to a clerical error in the 1974 gazette notification. As for Honavada, only 11 acres of waqf property exists contrary to Surya’s claims. Later, hundreds of farmers in other districts like Haveri, Shivamogga etc. also discovered similar mutations in their records of RTC**. It was found that in many places the state government went ahead and did away with due process in a bid to displace farmers from the land they have cultivated for decades. In the face of their just demands CM Siddaramaiah has verbally assured that notices will be taken back. Whether it will ensure protection from acquisition in future remains to be seen. In the aftermath of Naxalbari uprising, many states scampered to implement land reforms to pacify peasants. In Karnataka, land reforms act was implemented in 1974 as part of which 12,000 acres of land were distributed among landless peasants. Around 1,400 acres got distributed because of the Inam Abolition Act, ‘inams’ being land gifted by the British to their most obedient servants. As part of these reforms, a lot of waqf properties too got distributed. In 1998, a Supreme court judgment stated that property once declared Waqf would remain so. In other words, land reforms or Inams abolition acts are not applicable on waqf land causing the current distress to the farmers. However, this cannot be a reason to evict farmers rather their rights over their land need to be upheld.
Nationally waqf has been a recent target of the RSS-BJP central government that has proposed extensive amendments to the existing act as part of their Hindutva agenda. The amendments are intended to target the Muslim community. Two new categories of Waqf are proposed to be added i.e. Aghakhani Waqf and Bohra Waqf, which is an attempt to subdivide Muslims of India. It omits the provision of “Waqf by user” under which a property that has been used for a religious or pious purpose over a long period of time, with the knowledge or consent of the owner, is considered a Waqf. It also gives absolute power to the collector to decide the fate of waqf properties, hence any waqf property can get declared as government property. Muslim presence in the boards is also diluted under the proposals. In essence, the amendments are geared towards centralisation of the waqf lands for greater governmental control through taxation of the properties. The working class Muslims directly dependent on these properties will suffer the most. On top of that, it is also an ideological attack on the Muslim community as a whole.
The Congress has been silent on the attack on the Muslim community through the waqf amendments proposed by the BJP as well as half-hearted in fulfilling the farmers’ demands. This double game played by the Congress exposes its political opportunism. In the ensuing bureaucratic traps, the farmers are faced with a fear of losing their lands and the Muslims as a whole are facing communal attacks under the instigation of the BJP in parts of Karnataka. Hence, it is important to support the just rights of the farmers over the land they till while also exposing the communal agenda behind BJP’s sudden concern regarding displacement.
*A body that came into existence through an Act passed in the parliament
**RTC stands for Record of Rights, Tenancy, and Crops, a document containing land records and ownership details. Also known as Pahani, it has various details about a piece of land in Karnataka, including landowner’s information, land type,
