Bengaluru, Nov 7 (IANS): Karnataka Home Minister G. Parameshwara on Thursday said that the Chairperson of Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) on Waqf Amendment Bill 2024 Jagdambika Pal was visiting the state with "political malice".
Talking to reporters in Bengaluru, Parameshwara said: "As per my information, the Chairman of the Joint Parliamentary Committee on the Waqf Amendment Bill Jagadambika Pal was visiting Karnataka today all by himself."
"Jagadambika Pal is arriving himself without discussing his visit with other members of the JPC. One of the members objected to it and stated that the Chairman is not supposed to visit in that fashion," he claimed.
Pal was scheduled to visit Hubli, Vijayapura and Belagavi, during which he would meet farmers and members of various organisations regarding their lands being wrongfully claimed by the State Waqf Board.
During the visit, Pal will be accompanied by MP and JPC member Tejasvi Surya.
He will meet a delegation of farmers in Hubballi and Vijayapura over land disputes with the Waqf Board.
Pal will also hold a press conference at the Deputy Commissioner's Office in Vijayapura on the Waqf (Amendment) Bill.
BJP MLA Basanagouda Patil Yatnal is staging an indefinite strike at Vijayapura with hundreds of farmers and supporters protesting notices to farmers by the authorities claiming their land ownership to the Waqf board.
Union Minister of State Shobha Karandlaje participated in the strike on Monday and spent overnight at the tent with protesters.
Tejasvi Surya, the BJP National Youth President, had urged the JPC Chairman to visit the state.
Tejasvi Surya alleged that the Waqf board claimed over 50,000 acres of land.
He said no one can predict when the farmers' land will be transferred to the Waqf board.
Meanwhile, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah had announced that the notices given to farmers would be withdrawn.