Waqf row: Basavaraj Bommai urges govt to act on Anwar Manippady report

Mangalore Today News Network

Bengaluru, Nov 3, 2024: The ongoing controversy regarding notices issued by the Karnataka State Board of Auqaf, also known as the Waqf Board, took a new turn on Sunday. Lok Sabha MP and former Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai called on the state government to take action based on a report by former Karnataka State Minorities Commission chairman Anwar Manippady on Waqf property encroachments.

 

His remarks came as the ruling Congress and Opposition BJP were engaged in a war of words over notices served by the Waqf Board to those encroaching on its lands. While the BJP has accused the ruling Congress of ‘land jihad’ by allegedly forcing farmers to vacate their land, the Congress government has dismissed the claims, saying that such notices were issued even during BJP rule while withholding the recent notices issued by the Board.

Bommai’s demand came after Congress-linked handles shared a video clip of Bommai during his tenure as CM. Speaking at a Waqf Board event, Bommai had called Waqf as ‘Khuda Ka property (property of God)’. “If that is looted, if you keep your eyes closed (when the property is looted), you will be more guilty than those who loot the land,” he had said, noting that more than Rs 2,000 crore worth Waqf properties were registered on the names of private individuals.

The former chief minister issued a clarification Sunday, saying that his words were being taken out of context. “They have twisted my words where I had said that Waqf properties encroached by Congress leaders should be reclaimed,” he said in a post on X. He also demanded the government reveal the extent to which Congress leaders encroached on Waqf land in the past, as highlighted in the Manippady report.

The report was tabled during the winter session of the state legislature in 2020. It was compiled during Manippady’s tenure as chairman of the Commission between 2010 and 2013, during BJP rule in the state, and had come under attack from Congress leaders who called it politically motivated.