Govt will not remove temples on Waqf properties, says CM

Govt will not remove temples on Waqf properties, says CM
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Belagavi: Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Wednesday assured the Karnataka As-sembly that the government will not remove those temples which are built...

Belagavi: Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Wednesday assured the Karnataka As-sembly that the government will not remove those temples which are built on Waqf properties. In case notices have been served to them, then they will be withdrawn, he said. During a discussion on the issue of the Waqf Board issuing eviction notices to farmers, temples and many other individu-als, the Chief Minister said, “If temples have been built on Waqf properties then we will not remove them. I am making it very clear. In case any notice has been issued, they (notices) will be withdrawn.” As the raging Waqf issue echoed in the Assembly with the BJP raising it, the Waqf and Minority Affairs Minister B Z Zameer Ahmed Khan clarified that if notices were given to farmers and temples then they will be with-drawn.

The Chief Minister too reiterated Khan’s statement and said no farmer will be evicted from the land they have been tilling. The BJP legislator Araga Jnanendra demanded that properties mentioned in government records as Waqf should also be removed as the mere with-drawal of notices will not serve the purpose. The Leader of the Opposition BJP, R. Ashoka, justified the demand by saying that there were 110 Kuruba families in the Krishna Raja constituency, in Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s home district of Mysuru, who have been running from pillar to post to get the notices removed. They have submitted several memoranda to Sid-daramaiah, but to no avail.

He said there are hundreds of such instances where people face hardship by such notices. Minister Khan reminded the BJP that it was in its manifesto in 2014 there was a promise to remove encroachment on Waqf properties. The Chief Minister underlined the need to save the Waqf properties saying that there were 1.10 lakh acres of Waqf properties in the state which now reduced to just 20,000 acres due to various provisions of law such as the Inam Aboli-tion Act as well as encroachment.

Jnanendra said, “We (BJP) too support saving the Waqf properties but our point is why notices were given now.” Siddaramaiah said the situation was such that there was a need to save the properties and notices were given as there is a Central law for it.

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