The Uttar Pradesh government has informed the Joint Parliamentary Committee that 78% of the land in UP which the State Waqf Board is claiming as its own, actually belongs to the government and the Waqf Board has no legal ownership rights over it. The Joint Parliamentary Committee on Waqf (Amendment) Bill held its last meeting of the field tour in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh on Tuesday. The meeting was held under the chairmanship of JPC chief MP Jagdambika Pal. The meeting was attended by all stakeholders including members of Shia and Sunni Waqf Board and Minority Commission.
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According to a report by OpIndia, Monica Garg, Additional Chief Secretary of the Minority Welfare Commission of the UP government, told the JPC that the Waqf Board claims that it has 14 thousand hectares of land in the state. But according to official records, out of this, 11.7 thousand hectares of land belongs to the government. Earlier in the Sachar Committee report it had also been said that the 60 properties on which the Waqf Board is claiming belong to the government.
The Revenue Department told the JPC that a large part of the land properties that the Waqf Board is claiming as its own are registered under Class 5 and Class 6 in the revenue records. Class 5 and 6 refer to government properties and gram sabha properties. According to reports, the Waqf Board in UP is claiming ownership of over 1.3 lakh different properties, these include ASI memorial, Balrampur government hospital, LDA land and many such areas which belong to the government.
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Uttar Pradesh Minority Welfare Minister Omprakash Rajbhar, who attended the meeting, said that various parties related to Waqf properties presented their views before the JPC members in the meeting. Rajbhar said, “The intention of the government is absolutely clear. It also wants to give the benefits of Waqf properties to poor Muslims.” Without naming anyone, he said, ”Those who have illegally occupied the Waqf lands are the ones who are opposing the Waqf Amendment Bill.” Ali Zaidi, Chairman of Uttar Pradesh Shia Waqf Board, who was present in the meeting, said that he presented his side in the meeting. Zaidi said that he has especially placed before the JPC the uncertainty regarding the future of the properties used under the Waqf Bill.
