Karnataka Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister HK Patil on Monday (October 28) announced that notices designating 1,500 acres of land in Honavada in Vijayapura district as Waqf properties would be withdrawn. The minister said the government had no plans to convert agricultural land into Waqf properties.

“Notices issued due to this error will be removed. The deputy commissioner will conduct an investigation to understand why the error occurred, after which appropriate action will be decided,” Patil said.

This comes after Bengaluru South BJP MP Tejasvi Surya met farmers in Vijayapura, where he accused the Waqf Board of acquiring 1,500 acres of land belonging to farmers. The farmers claimed that they received a notice soon after Housing and Waqf Minister BZ Zameer Ahmed Khan’s visit to Vijayapura and ordered the deputy commissioner to serve notices to farmers who were on the Waqf land.

Meanwhile, Industries Minister MB Patil, in-charge of Vijayapura, said the error was due to a gazette notification in 1974. The Waqf Board corrected this in 1977 by removing ‘Honavada » records, he added. The 1974 notification designated 10 acres and 14 guntas of land for a cemetery, with an additional 24 guntas housing an Idgah and a mosque as Waqf property.

He assured that a working group would look into the issue. Patil said if the BJP wanted to pursue the controversy for political reasons, it would be inappropriate. Responding to demands for resignation of Waqf Minister BZ Zameer Ahmed Khan, he argued that the responsibility for mistakes lay with local officials and not the minister.

District Commissioner T Bhoobalan reassured Honavada farmers, saying no private land had been transferred to the Waqf Board and farmers retained all rights over their properties. He said the Waqf Gazette notification of 1974 provided a list of properties for updating revenue records, a process which includes verification of ownership. Notices were issued to owners as part of the standard procedure for updating Waqf properties, but this did not affect their property rights. Bhoobalan said there had been no change in property rights and urged farmers not to worry about unfounded rumors about a land transfer of 1,500 acres in Honavada village, Tikota taluk.