In Vellore, Tamil Nadu, an entire village, Kattukolai, has been claimed as Waqf property by the state Waqf Board. As per a report in India Today, around 150 families in the Kottukollai village in the Anaikattu Taluk have received eviction notices from the Waqf Board.
Now, Hasan Maulana, a Congress MLA from Velachery in Tamil Nadu has said that villagers would be required to pay a nominal rent if the Waqf Board’s claim to the land is substantiated by supporting documents. “Once a Waqf, always a Waqf,” Maulana said.
Notably, the villagers received notices that their land belongs to Waqf and the notices were issued by a person named F Syed Sadam, who claimed that the land in Kattukollai belongs to a local dargah.
Syed Sadam says the land has belonged to the Waqf Board since 1954 and says they have documents to prove it. However, the local villagers have been living there for several generations.
