Daijiworld Media Network - Hubballi
Hubballi, April 6: Union Minister for Food, Public Distribution and Consumer Affairs Pralhad Joshi on Saturday alleged that there is widespread favouritism and "misuse" of Waqf properties, with many properties being "encroached upon".
Joshi emphasised that the Central government had introduced the Waqf (Amendment) Bill after extensive deliberation, aimed at bringing necessary changes to the Waqf system.
He asserted that the Bill was not "anti-Muslim", highlighting that the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government under Prime Minister Narendra Modi had ensured that the Bill was introduced constitutionally, after six months of thorough discussions and the formation of a Joint Parliamentary Committee.
"The Central government introduced the Waqf (Amendment) Bill after thorough deliberation and to bring about necessary changes in the Waqf system. It is not anti-Muslim. The NDA government, under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has not introduced the Bill unconstitutionally. This amendment was introduced only after six months of detailed deliberation and discussions, including the formation of a Joint Parliamentary Committee," Joshi told reporters.
Joshi further criticised the Congress for opposing the Bill, claiming that their objection was driven by fear of political consequences.
"Sonia Gandhi doesn’t believe in democracy. Her ‘prince’, Rahul Gandhi, had previously torn up one of the bills. This kind of attitude shows their disdain for democratic processes," he remarked.
The union minister also highlighted alleged irregularities in the management of Waqf properties. He claimed that in many parts of the country, properties belonging to Hindus had been wrongly declared as Waqf properties, and vice versa.
"The Waqf Board has been functioning without transparency or accountability. Many Muslim homes have been wrongly marked as Waqf property. Similarly, properties of Hindus have also been misclassified," Joshi said.
He cited examples of such misclassification in regions such as old Hubballi, Vijayapura, Haveri, Dharwad, and others, where even farmers’ lands were reportedly declared as Waqf properties.
"In old Hubballi, many Muslim households are shown as Waqf properties. In places like Vijayapura, Haveri, Dharwad, and others, even farmers' lands are declared as Waqf property. After carefully reviewing all this, the Bill has been brought to protect the poor and uphold social justice," Joshi added.
Joshi also stressed the importance of transparency in the management of Waqf properties, particularly in Karnataka, where Waqf land covers about 54,000 acres. He pointed out that if these lands were managed properly, as suggested by the Sachar Committee report, they could generate significant revenue.
"If it were properly managed, as per the Sachar Committee report, it could generate a revenue of Rs 12,000 crore. Where is that revenue?" Joshi questioned, accusing the Waqf Board of gross misuse of these assets.
In response to the recent suicide of a BJP worker, Joshi condemned the alleged misuse of power by the Congress, claiming that the filing of FIRs over social media posts reflected the extent of this abuse.
"If FIRs are being filed just for social media posts, it shows the extent of Congress’ misuse of power. Congress workers have posted things against us before – did we file FIRs against them?" he asked.