Chamarajpet Idgah ground is a public property, legal fight will continue: Minister R Ashoka
Bengaluru, Aug 30: Chamarajpet Idgah ground here is actually a "public property" and the legal fight over its ownership will continue in the courts, Karnataka Revenue Minister R Ashoka said on Tuesday, following the Supreme Court refusing to grant permission for Ganesh Chaturthi celebrations there, and ordering status quo.
He said the government will abide by the court order.
"People of Chamarajpet and Bengaluru were eager to celebrate Ganesha festival at the ground, but the Supreme Court has ordered status quo. We will fight legally in the courts, in the days to come," Ashoka said.
The ground is currently under the control of the state Revenue Department.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday refused to grant permission for Ganesh Chaturthi celebrations at Idgah ground and ordered status quo on land by both parties.
A three-judge bench headed by Justice Indira Banerjee asked the parties to approach the Karnataka High Court for the resolution of the dispute.
The top court was hearing an appeal filed by the Karnataka Waqf Board challenging the order of the High Court.
A division bench of the Karnataka High Court on August 26 permitted the state government to consider and pass appropriate orders on the applications received by the Deputy Commissioner of Bengaluru (Urban) seeking the use of Idgah ground at Chamarajpet.
Chamarajpet Nagarikara Okkoota Vedike, a citizens' forum, that wanted to organise the festival at the ground said they will abide by the order, but will fight the ownership issue legally.
"After the Supreme Court order there is no question of installing Ganesh idol there (Idgah ground), the government will also not allow it. Everyone has to obey the Supreme Court order," Ramegowda of Chamarajpet Nagarikara Okkoota Vedike said.
However, Karnataka State Board of Auqaf Chairman Moulana Shafi Saadi in New Delhi said, the Supreme Court order is a welcome one, as it doesn't allow attempts to disturb Hindu-Muslim unity, because of Chamrajpet Idgah ground issue.
"The Supreme Court has upheld the Places of Worship Act of 1991 and has ordered status quo...I want to tell Hindu brothers that Karnataka's Muslims are not against Ganesha festival celebrations, Islam does not preach opposing other's religious practices," he said, maintaining that Idgah is a Waqf property where Muslims have performed Namaz for 200 years.
Police have made tight security arrangements in and around Idgah ground at Chamarajpet, ahead of the Supreme Court hearing the matter today and had even held a "route march".
A Division Bench of the High Court of Karnataka on August 26 had modified an interim order of a single judge bench on the Chamrajpet Idgah playground dispute, saying religious and cultural activities can be allowed by the government there, but for a limited period from August 31.
Earlier, the court on August 25 had ordered that the two-acre land should be used only as a playground and Muslims should be allowed to pray there on only two festivals -- Bakrid and Ramzan -- till the case was disposed of.
The Joint Commissioner (west) of the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) had recently ruled that the property belonged to the Revenue Department following the civic body's Chief Commissioner's directions to verify the ownership of the land.
However, the Karnataka State Board of AUQAF and District Waqf Officer, Bengaluru challenged the order of the Joint Commissioner before the Single Judge of the HC.
The original property dispute dates back to 1955 and the Supreme Court had ruled in favour of the Waqf in 1965.
The decades-old dispute over Idgah Maidan had once again come to the fore earlier this year, when some Hindu outfits sought BBMP's permission to hold events there.
This resulted in two contrary sets of documents emerging -- the Karnataka State Board of Auqaf presented a 1965 gazette notifying the land as Wakf property and the 1974 City Survey records and all other civic records thereafter showed the land to be a playground.
In the meantime, following the BBMP order, several Hindu organisations announced they would celebrate Independence Day on the ground. Also, local Congress MLA B Z Zameer Ahmed Khan had announced they would go ahead and hoist the tricolour there.
However, the State Revenue Department organised the Independence Day event and an assistant commissioner-rank official hoisted the flag on August 15 for the first time at the Idgah ground.
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Cong takes swipe at PM over India not being part of US-led 'Pax Silica' grouping
New Delh (PTI) The Congress on Saturday said it is perhaps not very surprising that India is not part of a US-led strategic initiative to build a secure silicon supply chain, given the "sharp downturn" in the Trump-Modi ties, and asserted that it would have been to "our advantage if we had been part of this group".
Congress general secretary in charge of communications Jairam Ramesh took a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying the news of India not being part of the group comes after the PM had enthusiastically posted on social media about a telephone call with his "once-upon-a-time good friend and a recipient of many hugs in Ahmedabad, Houston, and Washington DC".
In a lengthy post on X, Ramesh said, "According to some news reports, the US has excluded India from a nine-nation initiative it has launched to reduce Chinese control on high-tech supply chains. The agreement is called Pax Silica, clearly as a counter to Pax Sinica. The nations included (for the moment at least) are the US, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Singapore, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Israel, the United Arab Emirates, and Australia."
"Given the sharp downturn in the Trump-Modi ties since May 10th, 2025, it is perhaps not very surprising that India has not been included. Undoubtedly, it would have been to our advantage if we had been part of this group."
"This news comes a day after the PM had enthusiastically posted on his telephone call with his once-upon-a-time good friend and a recipient of many hugs in Ahmedabad, Houston, and Washington DC," the Congress leader asserted.
The new US-led strategic initiative, rooted in deep cooperation with trusted allies, has been launched to build a secure and innovation-driven silicon supply chain.
According to the US State Department, the initiative called 'Pax Silica' aims to reduce coercive dependencies, protect the materials and capabilities foundational to artificial intelligence (AI), and ensure aligned nations can develop and deploy transformative technologies at scale.
The initiative includes Japan, South Korea, Singapore, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Israel, the United Arab Emirates, and Australia. With the exception of India, all other QUAD countries -- Japan, Australia and the US -- are part of the new initiative.
New Delhi will host the India-AI Impact Summit 2026 on February 19-20, focusing on the principles of 'People, Planet, and Progress'. The summit, announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the France AI Action Summit, will be the first-ever global AI summit hosted in the Global South.
Prime Minister Modi and US President Trump on Thursday discussed ways to sustain momentum in the bilateral economic partnership in a phone conversation amid signs of the two sides inching closer to firming up a much-awaited trade deal.
The phone call between the two leaders came on a day Indian and American negotiators concluded two-day talks on the proposed bilateral trade agreement that is expected to provide relief to India from the Trump administration's whopping 50 per cent tariffs on Indian goods.
In a social media post, Modi had described the conversation as "warm and engaging".
"We reviewed the progress in our bilateral relations and discussed regional and international developments. India and the US will continue to work together for global peace, stability and prosperity," Modi had said without making any reference to trade ties.
