State on the brink of a public uprising over Waqf issue, says BJP

Bengaluru: Leader of the Opposition in the Karnataka Assembly R. Ashoka on Friday said that the state is on the brink of a public uprising over the Waqf issue, but Chief Minister Siddaramaiah was unaffected as for Congress seizing farmers’ land was a trivial matter.

Speaking at a protest demonstration against the alleged encroachment of farmers’ land by the Waqf Board, R. Ashoka said: “For Congress ministers, seizing farmers’ land is a “trivial” matter. They claim there’s nothing to it. If that’s the case, why are protests erupting across the state? Prominent leaders of temples and religious mutts are joining the struggle.”

“Today, protests are being held statewide by BJP and farmers. When Congress comes to power, they prioritise appeasing minority communities. They’ve withdrawn cases related to Bengaluru’s DJ Halli-KG Halli and Hubballi riot cases,” he charged.

He further alleged, “When we were in power in Karnataka, there was not a single Naxal in the state. Now, Naxal issues have surfaced.”

“In historical Srirangapatna town in Mandya district, there is a 400-year-old temple. Yet the temple property has been registered as Waqf property. How can this happen?” he questioned.

“The ongoing protest is being carried out under the slogan ‘Our Property, Our Right.’ The BJP MLAs from Bengaluru are actively participating. The Deputy Chief Minister is trying to suppress our BJP MLAs, asking them to tone down and compromise,” Ashoka pointed out.

Shobha Karandlaje, Union Minister for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises and Labour and Employment, stated, “The number of Waqf properties, which stood at around 10,000 during the early days of independence, has now increased to nearly 9.5 lakh properties spanning 38 lakh acres of land under Waqf ownership.”

“Illegal declarations were being made to claim the lands of our farmers, temples, and monasteries as Waqf properties, which is the cause of our grievance,” Shobha Karandlaje stated.

C. T. Ravi, former BJP national general secretary, said: “The temple of CM Siddaramaiah’s family deity, Beeralingeshwara, thousands of acres of farmers’ land, and even Hindu cremation grounds have been included in Waqf properties.”

Former Deputy Chief Minister C. N. Ashwath Narayan, MP P. C. Mohan, MLA S. R. Vishwanath, former minister and MLA N. Muniratna, BJP state vice president Hartalu Halappa, Bengaluru South District President and MLA C. K. Ramamurthy, BJP state secretary Tammesh Gowda, Bengaluru North District President S. Harish, Bengaluru Central District President Saptagiri Gowda and others participated in the protest.