Karnataka: Congress, BJP spar as Waqf Board claims 1,500 acres farmland; minister asks aggrieved farmers to seek legal recourse

Farmers in Honvada village reported receiving an October 4 notice from the Tehsildar, stating that 1,500 acres of their ancestral land were being reclassified as Waqf property, according to an India Today report.

The BJP alleged that Karnataka Waqf Minister B.Z. Zameer Ahmed Khan directed officials to register farmers' lands in Honvada in favor of the Waqf Board within 15 days.

The Congress, however, insisted that no farmer-owned land would be taken.

BJP MP Tejasvi Surya visited Honvada on Friday, where he stated that farmers were served notices reassigning their lands to the Waqf Board "with no evidence or explanation provided."

He alleged that Minister Khan was aiming to bypass reforms in the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2024, proposed by the Modi government.

Union Minister Pralhad Joshi also expressed concern, stating that poor Muslims are affected by the current provisions of the Waqf Act.

BJP MLA Basangouda Patil Yatnal pledged to contest the Waqf Board’s move in court.

"Our team will challenge this decision in the Hon'ble High Court. I urge farmers to send copies of the notices received to aid our legal team," Yatnal posted on X, according to the report.

Waqf Minister Zameer Ahmed Khan defended the notices, asserting they were issued because the land in question is Waqf property.

"If it is Waqf property, only then will we issue the notice," he said, urging farmers to seek legal recourse if they disagreed, the report said.

Khan accused the BJP of politicizing the issue and emphasized that the government had no intention of taking anyone's land.

Khan also noted that much of the Waqf land in Karnataka had been encroached, mostly by Muslims, and that the BJP's proposed amendments to the Waqf Act were stirring unnecessary controversy.

Cabinet Minister M.B. Patil met with farmers in Honvada and assured them that their land would remain with them if they had the required documentation.

"I assured them that not even one inch of land which belongs to them will go to the Waqf Board," Patil stated,  adding that a review would be conducted based on documentation collected over the next 10-12 days, the report said.