Waqf properties row: Karnataka BJP stages state-wide protest against Cong govt
Bengaluru (PTI): Upping the ante following allegations by a section of farmers in certain parts of Karnataka that their lands were marked as Waqf properties, BJP on Monday held a state-wide protest, accusing the ruling Congress government of indulging in "land jihad".
The opposition party also demanded the sacking of Waqf Minister Zameer Ahmed Khan from the Cabinet.
The BJP has decided to go ahead with the protest despite Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Saturday directing officials that all notices issued to farmers be immediately revoked, and any unauthorised amendments in land records without due notice must also be nullified.
There were allegations by a section of farmers from Vijayapura district that their lands were marked as Waqf properties, and similar charges have surfaced from few other places.
While BJP state President B Y Vijayendra led the protest in Ballari, Leader of Opposition in Legislative Assembly R Ashoka took part in it at K R Puram here.
Similarly, various party leaders have joined the protests in different parts of the state.
On Sunday, Siddaramaiah hit out at the BJP for organising the protest, despite him directing officials to immediately retract all notices sent to farmers. The CM alleged that their motive is purely political, with no genuine interest in protecting the welfare of farmers.
He said the BJP’s "true nature" is to stoke communal strife for political gain, and this protest has no intention of safeguarding farmers' interests; instead, it threatens the harmony of Karnataka.
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Pakistan reports two more polio cases; Total tally now 52
ISLAMABAD: At least two more cases of poliovirus were reported in Pakistan, taking the number of infections to 52 so far this year, a report said on Friday.
“The Regional Reference Laboratory for Polio Eradication at the National Institute of Health has confirmed the detection of two more wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1) cases in Pakistan," an official statement said.
The fresh infections — a boy and a girl — were reported from the Dera Ismail Khan district of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province.
“Genetic sequencing of the samples collected from the children is underway," the statement read. Dera Ismail Khan, one of the seven polio-endemic districts of southern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, has reported five polio cases so far this year.
Of the 52 cases in the country this year, 24 are from Balochistan, 13 from Sindh, 13 from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and one each from Punjab and Islamabad.
There is no cure for polio. Only multiple doses of the oral polio vaccine and completion of the routine vaccination schedule for all children under the age of five can keep them protected.
