The BJP has made some startling revelations in its Karnataka Minorities Commission Report, which targets prominent leaders in opposition parties. BJP spokesperson Rajeev Chandrasekhar addressing the media on Thursday pointed out that more than 29,000 acres of Waqf land in Karnataka was "surreptitiously and illegally" transferred for commercial use.
The 7,000-page report was said to be prepared in 2012 and had been tabled in the state assembly eight years and two governments later in September 2020.
The report goes on to reveal how 29,000 acres of Waqf land was neither used for the good of Muslims nor any resources were made for their convenience, Chandrasekhar said.
"In December 2006, then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh ji said that the first right on the resources of the country is of the minorities. When he was making these statements, he was not seeing what the resources that Waqf already had were being looted. We request that whatever land the Waqf owns, whether it is in Karnataka or Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra, it should be examined," the BJP leader said at a press conference in BJP HQ in Delhi.
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Chandrasekhar demanded Waqf land that had been illegally transferred for commercial use over the years be returned to the board so it can be used for the welfare of Muslims and society.
Prominent Congress leaders from K'taka named in report
The report targets prominent leaders, some even ruling in the Congress party in Karnataka. BJP accuses the opposition party leaders of looting Waqf land for their own benefits. Current leaders such as MLAs NA Haris, Tanvir Sait and Kaneez Fatima and Mallikarjun Kharge have been named in the report besides MLC CM Ibrahim, Rajya Sabha MP Mallikarjun Kharge, former MP Rehman Khan. The dismissed MLA R Roshan Baig has also been named accused of having active involvement in the alleged land scam.
Congress rejects report
Congress has maintained that there is no truth in the report, hence the previous Siddaramaiah government rejected it and refused to place it on the floor to the assembly.
Waqf board in Karnataka holds 54,000 acres of land, according to the same report.
