After the Waqf Boards of various states declared villages, and big hotels, and even colleges as their property, the intentions of the Waqf Board have come to the fore, and it is not ready to stop. Now, the Maharashtra Waqf Board has staked its claim on the lands of 103 farmers of Latur. It has also issued notices to the farmers who own these lands.
The aggrieved farmers say that the Waqf is now trying to usurp the lands on which they have been farming for generations. The farmers say that the Waqf Board set its eyes on about 300 acres of their land and usurped it. Notices have been issued to 103 farmers to vacate the land. A suit has been filed in the Maharashtra State Waqf Tribunal of Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar about this matter.
The notice sent by the Waqf Board says that the farmers of Talegaon in Latur should vacate these lands immediately. The farmers, scared by the notice, have appealed to the government and administration for help to save their lands. The farmers say that this is their own land, the Waqf Board has no part in it. It has been almost two months since the notice was sent.
The Waqf Board says that these lands have been given to the villagers by it and now it wants these lands back. Some villagers say that they have the documents of these lands from the Nizam period. At the same time, a farmer showed the Hyderabad Gazette. He told that he has this document since the time when Bidar was a district. During that time his ancestors had bought the land.
Audacity of the Waqf Board
This is not the only case of arbitrariness of the Waqf Board. The Uttar Pradesh Waqf Board has also staked its claim on the famous Uday Pratap College (UP College) located in Varanasi. The board says that this property belongs to it. Uday Pratap College was established about 115 years ago in 1909 by Raja Uday Pratap Singh Judev of Bhinga (Bahraich, Uttar Pradesh).
Additionally, in the year 2022, the Waqf Board of Tamil Nadu staked its claim on the entire Thiruchendurai village of Hindus, calling it a Waqf property. There is a 1500-year-old temple there, but still the Waqf Board also declared it as its property. In this way, the Waqf Board has staked its claim on 369 acres of land.
In Karnataka, the Waqf Board has claimed 1200 acres (about 2000 bighas) of land as its property by calling it Shah Aminuddin Dargah’s land. After this, the Congress government of the state sent notices to the farmers asking them to vacate those lands. Later, the farmers of Honwada village in Tikota taluk of Vijayapura district complained about this to Minister MB Patil.
