{"id":839,"date":"2010-02-10T17:09:41","date_gmt":"2010-02-10T11:39:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mohamediqbalp.wordpress.com\/2010\/02\/10\/waqf-scam-meant-for-muslim-welfare-waqf-lands-are-being-sold-for-a-song-by-its-trustees\/"},"modified":"2010-02-10T17:09:41","modified_gmt":"2010-02-10T11:39:41","slug":"waqf-scam-meant-for-muslim-welfare-waqf-lands-are-being-sold-for-a-song-by-its-trustees","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/venusimportexport.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/2010\/02\/10\/waqf-scam-meant-for-muslim-welfare-waqf-lands-are-being-sold-for-a-song-by-its-trustees\/","title":{"rendered":"Waqf scam!! Meant for Muslim welfare, Waqf lands are being sold for a song by its trustees"},"content":{"rendered":"<table width=\"1000\" border=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\">\n<tbody>\n<tr><\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"width:25px;\"><\/td>\n<td style=\"overflow:hidden;width:550px;padding-top:10px;padding-bottom:10px;vertical-align:top;\">\n<div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/cms.outlookindia.com\/images\/articles\/outlookindia\/2009\/9\/21\/tollygunge_golf_club_20090921.jpg\" style=\"border-width:0;\" \/>                 <\/p>\n<div id=\"ctl00_cphpagemiddle_reparticle_ctl00_divartpiccredit\" class=\"fspphotocredit\">Sandipan Chatterjee<\/div>\n<p>                <\/p>\n<div id=\"ctl00_cphpagemiddle_reparticle_ctl00_divartpiccaption\" class=\"fsppicturecaption\">Wakf land now a club: <b>Tollygunge, Calcutta<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Having failed to give the lease rent agreed upon in 1934, the<br \/>management of the club has now been ordered by court to pay Rs 30 lakh<br \/>as arrears and Rs 1 lakh a month as rent<\/div>\n<p><\/p>\n<div class=\"divseperator\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.outlookindia.com\/peoplefnl.aspx?pid=3900&amp;author=Saba+Naqvi\" class=\"fspauthor\">Saba Naqvi<\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"divseperator\">\n<table width=\"550\" align=\"center\" border=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td align=\"center\"><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<table width=\"100%\" align=\"center\" border=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td colspan=\"10\" style=\"background-color:rgb(255,255,255);height:1px;\"><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td colspan=\"10\" style=\"background-color:rgb(204,204,204);height:1px;\"><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<table id=\"ctl00_cphpagemiddle_reparticle_ctl00_tbltopinthisstory\" style=\"width:100%;margin:0;\" border=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<table style=\"width:100%;text-align:right;background-color:rgb(255,255,255);\" align=\"right\" border=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<div id=\"ctl00_cphpagemiddle_reparticle_ctl00_inthisstoryheadertop\" class=\"collapsePanelHeader\">\n<div style=\"cursor:pointer;padding:0;\">\n<table width=\"100%\" border=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td class=\"fspprintsavelinks\" align=\"right\"><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<div id=\"ctl00_cphpagemiddle_reparticle_ctl00_divfullstorytext\" class=\"fsptext\" style=\"margin-right:3px;\"><font class=\"fspsubheading\">Wakf Deconstructed<\/font><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>\u2018To tie down\u2019<\/strong> is the literal meaning of<br \/>the Arabic word Wakf. It&#8217;s used across the Muslim world to denote<br \/>property donated by individuals and institutions in the name of Allah<br \/>for the benefit of the poor in the community.<\/li>\n<li><strong>800 years<\/strong> is how old the institution of Wakf is in India. It began when Muslim rulers donated huge lands for charity.<\/li>\n<li><strong>3,00,000<\/strong> is the approximate number of registered Wakf properties in India<\/li>\n<li><strong>4 lakh acres<\/strong>is the land Wakf properties account for. According to the deputy<br \/>chairman of the Rajya Sabha, K. Rahman Khan, this makes the board the<br \/>third-largest landholder after the railways and defence.<\/li>\n<li><strong>35<\/strong> is the number of Wakf boards in India, many of them non-functional<\/li>\n<li><strong>5 <\/strong>is the minimum number of members a board must have. The number,<br \/>however, varies according to the Muslim population of a state. Members<br \/>are nominated by ruling parties in each state.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Wakf Acts<\/strong> The 1954 and 1995 central laws endow huge powers with the state governments that set up and run Wakf boards in their states<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>***<\/p>\n<p><font class=\"fspsubheading\">Modus Operandi<\/font><\/p>\n<p><strong>Outright sale<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Builder or businessman identifies a Wakf property<\/li>\n<li>They approach members of the board<\/li>\n<li>The land is sold for a pittance<\/li>\n<li>Board members get their cut<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Cheap rent<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Happens in states where outright sale is not encouraged<\/li>\n<li>Builder\/ businessman approaches board members<\/li>\n<li>The land is given on a ridiculously low lease<\/li>\n<li>Land use is changed to facilitate commercial exploitation<\/li>\n<li>Members pocket their cuts<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Allegations against the board<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Although Wakf is a national resource to be used to<br \/>develop institutions and earn income for Muslims, it is so terribly<br \/>managed that it is the only system where virtually no accountability is<br \/>demanded<\/li>\n<li>Cases of blatant corruption abound. Land is sold<br \/>off for buildings, hotels, malls or factories for a pittance or given<br \/>out for shockingly low rents to commercial interests.<\/li>\n<li>The boards have become an avenue for political patronage. Muslims who<br \/>cannot be accommodated in ministries are sent off here. They mostly<br \/>never do anything for the community. In most cases, they are<br \/>hand-in-glove with the land mafia and encroachers.<\/li>\n<li>The &#8220;Islam in danger&#8221; sentiment is crudely raised to hoodwink the Muslim<br \/>public and stop any real scrutiny of the functioning of boards, whose<br \/>members are out to make a fast buck<\/li>\n<li>Ironically, Wakf boards keep claiming properties protected by the ASI as &#8220;living&#8221;<br \/>religious shrines. In many cases, there is a clear monetary incentive<br \/>under the guise of religion.<\/li>\n<li>The mess in the boards is<br \/>also a reflection of the apathy of state governments. Many have not<br \/>constituted boards; none have carried out a survey of Wakf properties<br \/>as required by the 1995 Act.<\/li>\n<li>As a result of this mess, 70<br \/>per cent of Wakf properties are encroached upon, often in connivance<br \/>with board members or government department overseeing.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Allow encroachments<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The board covertly encourages Muslims to encroach on a<br \/>monument. Friday prayers begin to be held on a regular basis. Wakf<br \/>board then attempts to make it a \u2018living\u2019 place of worship. Very often,<br \/>the encroachers are board members or persons acting on their behalf.<\/li>\n<li>Later&nbsp; surrounding land is sold\/ leased as&nbsp; private property for&nbsp; commercial&nbsp; purposes.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>***<\/p>\n<p><font class=\"fspfirstchar\">I<\/font>t is collectively the biggest<br \/>land scam in India\u2019s history. Wakf can be described as a religious<br \/>endowment made in the name of Allah for the benefit of the poor and<br \/>needy in the Muslim community. There are approximately 3,00,000<br \/>registered Wakf properties in India on about four lakh acres of land.<br \/>It is a national resource that should have been developed for the<br \/>welfare of the community, as it is meant to.<\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n<p>Instead, this resource has been mortgaged, sold and encroached upon<br \/>with the connivance of the very institutions and individuals<br \/>responsible for safeguarding it. This is an investigation into a<br \/>systemic rot. The Wakf boards in most states of India are repositories<br \/>of corruption, in league with land sharks and builders. They continue<br \/>to get away with the daylight robbery of their own community because,<br \/>whenever there is any demand for scrutiny, they crudely take cover<br \/>behind the \u201cIslam in danger\u201d sentiment.<\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n<table width=\"180\" align=\"left\" border=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"padding:5px;\">\n<table width=\"100%\" border=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"20\" height=\"20\">\n<div style=\"border-top:3px solid rgb(175,14,37);border-left:3px solid rgb(175,14,37);\">&nbsp;<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<td height=\"20\"><\/td>\n<td width=\"20\" height=\"20\">\n<div style=\"border-top:3px solid rgb(175,14,37);border-right:3px solid rgb(175,14,37);\">&nbsp;<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"20\"><\/td>\n<td><font class=\"fspblurbtext\">Earlier,<br \/>a sale or exchange of land had to have the approval of the district<br \/>judge. Now the board pretty much does what it wants.<\/font><\/td>\n<td width=\"20\"><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"20\" height=\"20\">\n<div style=\"border-left:3px solid rgb(175,14,37);border-bottom:3px solid rgb(175,14,37);\">&nbsp;<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<td height=\"20\"><\/td>\n<td width=\"20\" height=\"20\">\n<div style=\"border-right:3px solid rgb(175,14,37);border-bottom:3px solid rgb(175,14,37);\">&nbsp;<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<p><\n\/tbody><\/table>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p><a name=\"Blurb1\"><\/a>Rahman<br \/>Khan, deputy chairman of the Rajya Sabha, was chairman of the joint<br \/>parliamentary committee on Wakf that submitted its report a year ago.<br \/>Having examined the issue in depth, he says: \u201cIf the Wakf properties<br \/>were managed properly, many problems of Muslims such as joblessness,<br \/>lack of education and resultant poverty would have been resolved.<br \/>Today, even if we presume that 70 per cent of these properties have<br \/>been encroached upon or sold off, even the remaining 30 per cent is a<br \/>huge resource that can be developed.\u201d He has already recommended to the<br \/>Manmohan Singh government that there be a \u201ctotal change\u201d in the<br \/>constitution of the boards and a national Wakf development corporation<br \/>be set up with professionals at the helm. \u201cImagine what great<br \/>institutions can be built as the land cost is zero,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align:center;\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"\" src=\"http:\/\/cms.outlookindia.com\/Uploads\/outlookindia\/2009\/200909\/20090921\/fatehpuri_maszid_20090921%281%29.jpg\" width=\"550\" height=\"300\" \/><\/p>\n<p><font class=\"fsppicturecaption\">Wakf property now <strong><font>encroached upon<\/font><\/strong>: <strong>Fatehpuri Mosque, Delhi<\/strong><br \/>In<br \/>one instance, the board got a property with Punjab National Bank<br \/>vacated and then leased it to a society headed by one of its own<br \/>members. Shops too have been given out on lease.<\/font><\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n<p>But that is some distance away and will happen only if public<br \/>awareness about the scale of the problem is created. Currently, those<br \/>who purport to be leaders of the community are complicit in the<br \/>conspiracy to rob resources while perpetuating a siege mentality. They<br \/>want to capture existing institutions and sell them off piece by piece.<br \/>They are adept at fanning fears and feeding into the victimhood<br \/>syndrome but quite incapable of building institutions or shepherding<br \/>the community towards modernity. Atyab Siddiqui, advocate and standing<br \/>counsel of the Jamia Millia Islamia university, says that \u201canytime we<br \/>talk of reforming Wakf, they bring religion into it\u201d. According to him,<br \/>the 1995 Wakf Act actually increased corruption within the boards.<br \/>Earlier, any sale or exchange of land had to be cleared by a district<br \/>judge. \u201cBut now,\u201d he says, \u201cthe board can pretty much do what it likes,<br \/>and shocking decisions are taken all the time.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n<p>Some examples of suspect land deals from across the land:<\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Chennai:<\/strong> In 1997, the Tamil Nadu Wakf<br \/>Board took the decision to outright sell 1,710 square feet of land in<br \/>the commercialised Triplicane High street in Madras for a paltry Rs 3<br \/>lakh. A sale like this would have required the sanction of two-thirds<br \/>of the board members.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Mumbai:<\/strong> The<br \/>Maharashtra Wakf Board got a measly Rs 16 lakh for 4,532 square metres<br \/>in the upscale Altamount Road on which none other than Mukesh Ambani is<br \/>building his plush 27-storey home.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Bangalore:<\/strong><br \/>Developed on about five acres of land, the Windsor Manor hotel here was<br \/>till recently giving the board a rent of Rs 12,000 a month for a<br \/>property worth Rs 500 crore.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Faridabad:<\/strong><br \/>The Wakf board has been giving out about five acres of land on 11-month<br \/>leases for several years at a ridiculously low rent between Rs 500 and<br \/>Rs 1,500 per month. A factory was built and land use altered.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><\/p>\n<p>When <em>Outlook<\/em> approached Salman Khursheed, the Union<br \/>minister for minority affairs, he admitted that \u201cWakf is one of those<br \/>areas in which accountability has not been demanded. The community<br \/>itself has not demanded accountability possibly due to a level of<br \/>ignorance\u201d. Can things change? Khursheed says he has proposed changes<br \/>in the existing laws. \u201cOnce there was no accountability in the<br \/>management of Haj. Now questions are asked all the time,\u201d he points<br \/>out. \u201cAlthough the Wakf situation looks impossible, things do and can<br \/>change once awareness builds up.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align:center;\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"\" src=\"http:\/\/cms.outlookindia.com\/Uploads\/outlookindia\/2009\/200909\/20090921\/winsor_manor_wakf_land_20090921.jpg\" width=\"550\" height=\"300\" \/><\/p>\n<p><font class=\"fsppicturecaption\">Wakf land now a <strong><font>hotel<\/font><\/strong>: <strong>Windsor Manor, Bangalore<\/strong> <\/p>\n<p>The hotel was paying a lease of just Rs 12,000 a month for this<br \/>five-acre plot till the courts recently ordered a rent of Rs 6 lakh a<br \/>month for a property worth Rs 500 crore<\/font><\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n<p>The heart of the problem lies in the constitution of the boards. A<br \/>senior bureaucrat familiar with the issue says bluntly: \u201cThe boards are<br \/>ill-constituted, not constituted or politically constituted. Often,<br \/>they\u2019re nothing more than a gang of thieves.\u201d Mostly, political<br \/>hangers-on and operators from the minority community are sent off to<br \/>man the boards. The policies of successive governments have created a<br \/>class of \u201csarkari Musalmans\u201d adept at capturing institutions and<br \/>bagging positions through which they can patronise others down the<br \/>pecking order. The incentive they have, besides authority, is to pilfer<br \/>as much as they can get away with.<\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n<table width=\"180\" align=\"right\" border=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"padding:5px;\">\n<table width=\"100%\" border=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"20\" height=\"20\">\n<div style=\"border-top:3px solid rgb(175,14,37);border-left:3px solid rgb(175,14,37);\">&nbsp;<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<td height=\"20\"><\/td>\n<td width=\"20\" height=\"20\">\n<div style=\"border-top:3px solid rgb(175,14,37);border-right:3px solid rgb(175,14,37);\">&nbsp;<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"20\"><\/td>\n<td><font class=\"fspblurbtext\">The policies of successive governments have created a class of \u2018sarkari Musalmans\u2019 who are adept at capturing institutions.<\/font><\/td>\n<td width=\"20\"><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"20\" height=\"20\">\n<div style=\"border-left:3px solid rgb(175,14,37);border-bottom:3px solid rgb(175,14,37);\">&nbsp;<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<td height=\"20\"><\/td>\n<td width=\"20\" height=\"20\">\n<div style=\"border-right:3px solid rgb(175,14,37);border-bottom:3px solid rgb(175,14,37);\">&nbsp;<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p><a name=\"Blurb2\"><\/a>There<br \/>are enough examples of how a small group of \u201cinsiders\u201d at Muslim<br \/>institutions benefit from the overall laxity in the boards. For<br \/>instance, there is the case of a member of the Delhi minorities<br \/>commission running a private school on a large tract of Wakf land in<br \/>the expensive Nizamuddin area and paying the board a pittance of Rs<br \/>1,000 rent per month. Mohammad Arif, section officer in charge of<br \/>properties in the Delhi Wakf office, admits reluctantly that there are<br \/>\u201csome schools running on Wakf land but they are not for the poor and<br \/>charge fees\u201d. Further digging reveals that, two decades ago, Delhi Wakf<br \/>ran a charitable dispensary but it was shut down. Now the main service<br \/>they provide is paying salaries of imams attached to masjids (see <a href=\"http:\/\/www.outlookindia.com\/article.aspx?261791\">On a Wink and a Prayer<\/a>).<\/p>\n<table width=\"200\" align=\"left\" border=\"0\" cellpadding=\"1\" cellspacing=\"1\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"&lt;font class=\" src=\"http:\/\/cms.outlookindia.com\/Uploads\/outlookindia\/2009\/200909\/20090921\/wakf_land_ambani_mumbai_20090921%281%29.jpg\" vspace=\"5\" width=\"265\" align=\"left\" height=\"350\" hspace=\"5\" \/><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><font class=\"fsppicturecaption\">Wakf land now <font><strong>Ambani Home<\/strong><\/font>: <strong>Altamount Rd, Mumbai<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The market value of this 4,532 sq m plot on which Mukesh Ambani is<br \/>building a 27-storey skyscraper is Rs 21 crore but the board ratified<\nbr \/>its sale for a &#8220;contribution&#8221; of Rs 16 lakh <\/font><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p><\/p>\n<p>There are two revealing cases linked to the huge Fatehpuri mosque in Delhi. According to some documents accessed by <em>Outlook<\/em>,<br \/>what was listed as \u201cWakf estate number 6540 in masjid Fatehpuri\u201d was<br \/>occupied by a branch of the Punjab National Bank. The board fought a<br \/>case and got the property vacated. Subsequently, however, it leased the<br \/>property to a society headed by one of its own members, a Maulana<br \/>Moazzam Ahmad. A blatant case of insider trading? Three years ago, a<br \/>lawyer representing a school running inside the Fatehpuri mosque tried<br \/>to get a shop at the entrance removed. The Wakf board claimed that the<br \/>documents relevant for that plot of land were missing\u2014it was widely<br \/>suspected that the shopkeeper was paying off members. Salman Khursheed<br \/>also pleads helplessness. \u201cWhat do we do when the boards let their own<br \/>properties be encroached upon and then say the documents are missing<br \/>and they have lost the title deeds?\u201d<\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n<p>That is, in fact, the most common tactic used when the boards are in<br \/>league with encroachers. RS deputy chairman Rahman Khan says that there<br \/>is no doubt that almost 70 to 80 per cent of Wakf land is encroached<br \/>upon. Often, it is the government that simply takes over the land. But<br \/>all too often Muslims themselves are the encroachers who pay off board<br \/>members to live inside mosques and shrines or run shops and businesses<br \/>on the premises. \u201cCorruption in the boards is rampant,\u201d says Rahman<br \/>Khan, \u201cand this is made worse by the attitude of state governments to<br \/>Muslim institutions. They don\u2019t want to interfere in case there is a<br \/>reaction and they also don\u2019t care because Muslims are involved.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align:center;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"\" src=\"http:\/\/cms.outlookindia.com\/Uploads\/outlookindia\/2009\/200909\/20090921\/wakf_land_banalore_20090921.jpg\" width=\"550\" height=\"318\" \/><\/p>\n<p><font class=\"fsppicturecaption\">Wakf land <strong><font>sold cheap<\/font><\/strong>: <strong>Lal Bagh, Bangalore<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>This 90,000 sq ft of prime property in the city\u2019s posh area was sold<br \/>for just Rs 1 crore when it could have fetched over Rs 90 crore in the<br \/>market<\/font><\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n<p>Standing counsel for Jamia Millia Islamia Atyab Siddiqui says that<br \/>whenever there is an initiative from educated Muslims to preserve a<br \/>legacy, build an institution or perhaps even introduce modern<br \/>education, there is a run-in with the Wakf board. \u201cWe believe the Wakf<br \/>does not have the instruments to preserve old mosques and we have been<br \/>arguing that the ASI is better positioned to manage properties. But the<br \/>problem that enlightened sections of society face is that they run up<br \/>against monetary interests of a few who hide behind the guise of<br \/>religion.\u201d K.K. Mohammad is a veteran ASI archaeologist who has worked<br \/>across India. Now the superintending archaeologist for the Delhi<br \/>circle, he says, \u201cMy experience shows me that whenever people claim<br \/>protected monuments as living shrines, there is a commercial incentive<br \/>of occupying the monument or developing the land around it. All<br \/>communities have people who do this.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n<p>Most old Wakf properties have caretakers who treat it like a<br \/>personal fiefdom, building houses and businesses and destroying the<br \/>character of the shrine. Siddiqui has been part of the initiative to<br \/>preserve the historic Anglo-Arabic school in Delhi\u2019s Ajmeri gate area.<br \/>He says, \u201cThe high court ordered the removal of encroachers (about 50<br \/>families) from the heritage property. But the same lot of property<br \/>dealers, local toughs, interlopers are again trying to move in under<br \/>the Wakf umbrella.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n<table width=\"180\" align=\"left\" border=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"padding:5px;\">\n<table width=\"100%\" border=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"20\" height=\"20\">\n<div style=\"border-top:3px solid rgb(175,14,37);border-left:3px solid rgb(175,14,37);\">&nbsp;<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<td height=\"20\"><\/td>\n<td width=\"20\" height=\"20\">\n<div style=\"border-top:3px solid rgb(175,14,37);border-right:3px solid rgb(175,14,37);\">&nbsp;<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"20\"><\/td>\n<td><font class=\"fspblurbtext\">Andhra has the largest number of Wakf properties registered in the country. Here the government has simply taken over land.<\/font><\/td>\n<td width=\"20\"><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"20\" height=\"20\">\n<div style=\"border-left:3px solid rgb(175,14,37);border-bottom:3px solid rgb(175,14,37);\">&nbsp;<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<td height=\"20\"><\/td>\n<td width=\"20\" height=\"20\">\n<div style=\"border-right:3px solid rgb(175,14,37);border-bottom:3px solid rgb(175,14,37);\">&nbsp;<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p><a name=\"Blurb3\"><\/a>Across<br \/>the country, there are examples of the huge Wakf mess. West Bengal has<br \/>many cases of properties being encroached upon and made into little<br \/>slums. Some examples: 4,000 illegal occupants are in possession of a<br \/>property in Calcutta known as the Mysore Family Fateha Fund Wakf<br \/>Estate. Over a hundred mosques in Calcutta and Howrah have been<br \/>encroached upon. Sixty-four other mosques in the state have been<br \/>illegally occupied. The story is somewhat different in Andhra Pradesh,<br \/>which has the largest number of Wakf properties registered in the<br \/>country. Here the government has simply taken over huge tracts of Wakf<br \/>lands. For instance, Hyderabad\u2019s hi-tech city stands on Wakf land.<br \/>There is the interesting case of the government taking over 6,000 acres<br \/>of land worth Rs 500 crore in Visakhapatnam and allotting 900 acres out<br \/>of this to NTPC and 800 acres to the Hindujas at the rate of Rs 2.25<br \/>lakh per acre. When the Wakf board contested this, the Supreme Court<br \/>ruled in its favour saying that the land was theirs and transferred it<br \/>back to them. The government had to then transfer the money to the Wakf<br \/>board.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align:center;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"\" src=\"http:\/\/cms.outlookindia.com\/Uploads\/outlookindia\/2009\/200909\/20090921\/wakf_land_aurangabad_20090921.jpg\" width=\"550\" height=\"300\" \/> <font class=\"fsppicturecaption\">Wakf land now <strong><font>sold to developer<\/font><\/strong>: Aurangabad<\/p>\n<p>Notified as Wakf property in 1973, 14 acres of this Rs 60-crore<br \/>property was allegedly sold for Rs 8 crore to Nirman Bharti Developers,<br \/>owned by Vilasrao Deshmukh\u2019s brother Dilip<\/font><\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n<p>Clearly, Wakf is a remarkable resource that can be tapped for the<br \/>community. In a state like Kerala where people are literate and demand<br \/>accountability, the board is manned by professionals and headed by two<br \/>advocates, not by racketeers. Bureaucrats in the ministry of minority<br \/>affairs in New Delhi cite the work done in Kerala as an example of what<br \/>is possible. But that is an exception. The norm is rampant corruption,<br \/>in the firm belief that no one will demand accountability.<\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n<p>More than anything else, the terrible state of Wakf properties in<br \/>India reflects on the Muslim community\u2019s failure to build institutions.<br \/>Compare this with the manner in which the tiny Christian minority has<br \/>preserved and built schools, colleges and hospitals. There is a complex<br \/>set of reasons for this state of affairs in institutions that purport<br \/>to work for the welfare of the country\u2019s largest minority and the<br \/>world\u2019s second-largest Muslim population. In the case of Wakf, many<br \/>illiterate Muslims just see their placards and presume the land belongs<br \/>to them. They are encouraged to believe there is some higher religious<br \/>purpose to Wakf, little knowing that it has become a synonym for<br \/>daylight robbery. The greatest hypocrisy perhaps is that the men who<br \/>violate the spirit of charity behind the concept of Wakf then pretend<br \/>to be devout and pious believers.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p>google_protectAndRun(&#8220;ads_core.google_render_ad&#8221;, google_handleError, google_render_ad);google_protectAndRun(&#8220;ads_core.google_render_ad&#8221;, google_handleError, google_render_ad);<\/p>\n<div class=\"zemanta-pixie\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"zemanta-pixie-img\" alt=\"\" src=\"http:\/\/img.zemanta.com\/pixy.gif?x-id=4091445f-f620-8a30-97b4-3481d24ba676\" \/><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Sandipan Chatterjee Wakf land now a club: Tollygunge, Calcutta Having failed to give the lease rent agreed upon in 1934, themanagement of the club has now been ordered by court to pay Rs 30 lakhas arrears and Rs 1 lakh a month as rent Saba Naqvi Wakf Deconstructed \u2018To tie down\u2019 is the literal meaning&hellip; <br \/> <a class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/venusimportexport.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/2010\/02\/10\/waqf-scam-meant-for-muslim-welfare-waqf-lands-are-being-sold-for-a-song-by-its-trustees\/\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-839","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/venusimportexport.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/839","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/venusimportexport.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/venusimportexport.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/venusimportexport.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/venusimportexport.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=839"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/venusimportexport.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/839\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/venusimportexport.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=839"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/venusimportexport.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=839"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/venusimportexport.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=839"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}