Will form committee to look into Waqf properties issue: CM Siddaramaiah
Belagavi (PTI): Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Wednesday said he is ready to form a committee headed by a retired judge to look into the Waqf properties issue.
The chief minister also assured the Karnataka Assembly 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 In case notices have been served to them, then they will be withdrawn, he said.
Replying to the question raised by the opposition BJP on the Waqf land issue in the ongoing Assembly session on Thursday, the chief minister said, "Revenue Minister Krishna Byre Gowda has given a detailed reply to the charges of the opposition party.
"If they are not content with our reply, the government is ready to form a committee headed by a retired judge," the chief minister told the house.
He also made it clear that the matter is not a prestige issue.
Siddaramaiah said the central government had enacted the Wakf Act in 1954, which the state government cannot amend.
"The BJP-led government was in power in the state from 2008 to 2013 and from 2019 to 2023. The BJP has been in power at the Centre since 2014. Then, without thinking about amending the Wakf Act, they are now raising a controversy,” he alleged.
Siddaramaiah said the BJP, in its election manifesto, had said that it would discuss with Muslim religious leaders and clear and protect the encroached Waqf properties.
The government has clearly answered all the questions of the opposition. This should remove the confusion among the people, he added.
Siddaramaiah also assured the House that the government will not touch Waqf lands sanctioned under the Inam Cancellation and Land Reforms Act.
According to him, of the total 1.28 lakh acres of Waqf property, 47,263 acres are under the Inam Cancellation and 23,623 acres under the Land Reforms Act, and 3,000 acres have been used for public purposes. About 17,969 acres of Waqf land has been encroached on by private individuals.
"There is a Supreme Court order to protect these. Once it is registered as a Waqf property, it will always be a Waqf property," he said.
During a discussion on the issue of the Waqf Board issuing eviction notices to farmers, temples and many other individuals, 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 In case any notice has been issued, they (notices) will be withdrawn."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, Waqf and Minority Affairs Minister B Z Zameer Ahmed Khan clarified that if notices were given to farmers and temples then they would be withdrawn.
The chief minister too reiterated Khan's statement and said no farmer will be evicted from the land they have been tilling.
BJP legislator Araga Jnanendra demanded that the properties mentioned in the government records as those of Waqf should also be removed as the mere cancelling of notices will not serve the purpose.
Leader of the Opposition R Ashoka justified the demand by saying that 110 Kuruba families in the Krishna Raja constituency in Siddaramaiah's home district of Mysuru had been running from pillar to post to get the notices revoked.
They have submitted several memoranda to Siddaramaiah, but to no avail, he said, adding there were hundreds of such instances where people were facing hardships due to such notices.
Khan reminded the BJP that 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 there were 1.10 lakh acres of such properties in the state which has now been reduced to just 20,000 acres due to various provisions of law such as the Inam Abolition 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.
The clarification was necessary now because he explained that a march was taken out from Bidar by the Vijayapura BJP MLA Basanagouda Patil Yatnal from Bidar.
"There is a political split in the BJP but I won't discuss your internal matter," Siddaramaiah quipped.
He referred to the differences between Yatnal and BJP state chief B Y Vijayendra. As a show of strength, Yatnal decided to take out a march from Bidar to Chamarajanagar with the support of 12 senior BJP leaders including MP and MLAs.
He accused the BJP of politicising the issue. He reminded that despite the attempt to communalise the atmosphere in the state, the BJP lost the recent bypolls in all three assembly segments, Channapatna, Sandur and Shiggaon.
Not satisfied by the explanation given by the Congress government, the BJP legislators staged a walkout from the assembly.
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BJP MP from Nagaland alleges Rahul Gandhi 'misbehaved' with her during protest on Parliament premise
New Delhi, Dec 19: BJP MP from Nagaland S Phangnon Konyak on Thursday alleged in the Rajya Sabha that Congress leader Rahul Gandhi came in her "close proximity" and shouted at her during a protest outside the Parliament's Makar Dwar which made her feel "extremely uncomfortable".
"My dignity and self-esteem have been deeply hurt by LoP Shri Rahul Gandhi ji," she said in a communication to Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankar who said he would look into it.
The BJP cited Konyak's allegation and injuries to its two other MPs as it alleged that Gandhi pushed and shoved its members and indulged in "indecent" conduct during the incident, even as the Congress rejected the charges and Gandhi said that it was the ruling party MPs who "stopped, threatened and intimidated" him.
Several NDA MPs criticised Gandhi for his "misbehaviour" and sought action against him.
Supporting the Nagaland MP's claim in the Upper House, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju alleged the Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha had pushed her and charged physically while entering Parliament during morning hours.
Leader of the house and BJP president JP Nadda slammed the Congress leader's conduct as "an act of physical and mental harassment".
The allegation was, however, countered by DMK member Tiruchi Siva who said that nothing as claimed by treasury bench members took place.
"Today while protesting, it was a peaceful protest. I was standing outside just below the staircase of Makar Dwar. Something happened to me for which I feel really disheartened. Leader of the opposition of Lok Sabha Shri Rahul Gandhi ji came very close proximity of me. I really felt very uncomfortable and he started shouting at me which I felt is very unbecoming of a leader of the opposition,” Konyak said.
She was speaking amid protests by opposition members who were demanding an apology from Union Home Minister Amit Shah, alleging his remarks on Tuesday were an insult to B R Ambedkar, the architect of the Constitution.
"His (Gandhi's) action was really bad and I feel disheartened and no lady member, let alone me, an ST member from Nagaland should not be made to feel like this. So I seek your protection for this letter for which I have already shared notice to you," Konyak said.
Minister Rijiju alleged Rahul Gandhi pushed two more members with such force that they were bleeding and have been hospitalised.
"This behaviour of the Congress party is shameful beyond our belief. We have numbers. We are not going to be afraid but we don't want to plummet the standard of Parliament by manhandling to this low.
"I plead to you all Congress members that the entire Congress should apologise to this house and the nation. This Parliament is not a wrestling arena.” Rijiju said.
He demanded that the entire Congress party should not only apologise to the Parliament but to the entire nation.
"The way Rahul Gandhi has beaten our two MPs, our MPs are agitated. Had we also manhandled in the same manner then what would have been the situation. ... We are not cowards but if our people will also start manhandling like Rahul Gandhi then how will democracy work,” Rijiju said.
At this, Nadda said that the discussion held on the Constitution in Parliament had exposed the Congress completely on how it twisted and misused it in the last 75 years and therefore the party members have "lost their mind".
"Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi, in an undemocratic way, pushed our members who were protesting in a peaceful manner in which our two members were injured and are admitted to Ram Manohar Hospital...
"The way the leader of the opposition pushed our sister, Konyak, who is a member of the House, amounted to physical and mental harassment. It is a matter of privilege,” Nadda said.
Dhankar said that he has received communication from Konyak and she also met in his chamber.
"I am looking into it. She was literally in tears.... she could never believe that as a lady member she could suffer so much at the hands of another member of Parliament,” Dhankar.
DMK's Tiruchi Siva contested the claims made by the treasury bench members.
"This is the version of one side. There was a demonstration going on outside and Mr Rahul Gandhi, the Leader of the Opposition in the other house, is a very senior person and he has complained that he was only pushed. We respect all elder members. We respect every woman in this country. Nothing has happened of that sort,” he said.
Dhankar repeated that Konyak had complained to him and was in tears.
Both the treasury bench and opposition members continued sloganeering during the statements made by treasury bench members.
The House was adjourned for the day after Siva spoke.
The alleged incidents occurred during a face-off between the opposition and NDA MPs in Parliament premises.
A number of MPs of the ruling BJP-led National Democratic Alliance were protesting at the steps of 'Makar Dwar against the Congress' alleged insult of Ambedkar, while MPs from the Congress and its allies were demonstrating over Union Minister Home Shah's remarks on Ambedkar and accused the BJP of slighting the architect of the Constitution.
BJP MPs alleged that INDIA bloc members insisted on entering Parliament by passing through the BJP MPs who were holding a protest, instead of using the space left empty on one side of the staircase Makar Dwar, used by members to enter and exit the building.
In her letter to the Chairman, Phangnon Konyak said Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi along with other party MPs came in front of her despite there being a passage created for them by security personnel.
"He misbehaved with me in a loud voice and his physical proximity to me was so close that I being a lady member felt extremely uncomfortable. I stepped aside with heavy heart and renouncing my democratic rights but felt that no member of Parliament should behave this way (sic)," she alleged.
"I belong to the ST community and I am a lady member. My dignity and self-esteem have been deeply hurt by LoP Shri Rahul Gandhi ji. Therefore, Hon'ble Chairman sir, I seek your protection," she also wrote to the RS Chairman.
Addresing a press conference at BJP headquarters, Union Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said that the party was pained at the treatment meted out to its tribal MP.
“Will physical strength be used in Parliament? Will musclemen and goondas come to Parliament? In which direction is the Congress taking the country’s democracy?” said the BJP leader, who was flanked by Union Minister Piyush Goyal and party MPs Anurag Thakur and Anil Baluni.
"Rahul Gandhi does not deserve to hold the post of the Leader of Opposition," Chouhan said as he slammed the Congress leader's behaviour and alleged it is against India’s cultural ethos.
Member of Rajya Sabha and women ST leader from Nagaland @SPhangnon Ji has charged LoP of LokSabha Rahul Gandhi ji for deeply hurting her dignity and self-esteem. pic.twitter.com/ha8xYovjP5
— Aditya Trivedi (@AdityaTrivedi_) December 19, 2024
