<p class="bodytext">Leader of the Opposition R Ashoka on Friday accused the ruling Congress of adopting the divide and rule policy of the British and drawing a wedge between Hindus and Muslims.</p>.<p class="bodytext">“Through the Waqf board, the Congress government is usurping the lands, temples and burial grounds of Hindus. The Congress is following the divide and rule policy of the British by creating communal disharmony between the Hindus and the Muslims. The mention of Waqf in the pahanis of farmers has to be to removed,” he said while speaking in the Legislative Assembly.</p>.<p class="bodytext">This was Ashoka’s second attempt to raise the Waqf issue after his earlier bid was disrupted by a few Congress lawmakers.</p>.Panchamasalis quota stir: Community should approach BC panel, says Siddaramaiah.<p class="bodytext">Urging the Congress to clarify on the confusion created by the Waqf board, Ashoka demanded the grand old party to rectify the “injustice” to farmers and Hindus due to “land grabbing” by the Waqf board.</p>.<p class="bodytext">“Historic temples, gomalas, schools and burial grounds are becoming Waqf property. The pahanis are changing overnight,” Ashoka alleged.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Citing an example of Muneshwara Nagar at Krishnaraja constituency in Mysuru, he said there were 110 families of Kuruba community. </p>.<p class="bodytext">“They had got land records 60 years ago by the then Congress government but it has suddenly become Waqf land.”</p>.<p class="bodytext">Ashoka dared Waqf Minister Zameer Ahmed Khan to give documents on notice given to those 100 families, adding that he was ready to face humiliation if his claims were false.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The Opposition leader alleged that notices had been served even after Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said they would not be done, adding that Zameer had conducted Waqf Adalats in several districts.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Demanding that the 1995 Gazette notification should be withdrawn, Ashoka said the “extra-Constitutional” powers given to the Waqf board should be restricted.</p>.<p class="bodytext">He said the Assembly should unanimously support the Centre’s Waqf Amendment Bill, 2024.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Meanwhile, Waqf Minister Zameer Ahmed Khan said on Friday that the poor and farmers cultivating on Waqf land would not be evicted.</p>.<p class="bodytext">“We will soon decide under the leadership of chief minister to hand over the lands to them,” Khan added.</p>
<p class="bodytext">Leader of the Opposition R Ashoka on Friday accused the ruling Congress of adopting the divide and rule policy of the British and drawing a wedge between Hindus and Muslims.</p>.<p class="bodytext">“Through the Waqf board, the Congress government is usurping the lands, temples and burial grounds of Hindus. The Congress is following the divide and rule policy of the British by creating communal disharmony between the Hindus and the Muslims. The mention of Waqf in the pahanis of farmers has to be to removed,” he said while speaking in the Legislative Assembly.</p>.<p class="bodytext">This was Ashoka’s second attempt to raise the Waqf issue after his earlier bid was disrupted by a few Congress lawmakers.</p>.Panchamasalis quota stir: Community should approach BC panel, says Siddaramaiah.<p class="bodytext">Urging the Congress to clarify on the confusion created by the Waqf board, Ashoka demanded the grand old party to rectify the “injustice” to farmers and Hindus due to “land grabbing” by the Waqf board.</p>.<p class="bodytext">“Historic temples, gomalas, schools and burial grounds are becoming Waqf property. The pahanis are changing overnight,” Ashoka alleged.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Citing an example of Muneshwara Nagar at Krishnaraja constituency in Mysuru, he said there were 110 families of Kuruba community. </p>.<p class="bodytext">“They had got land records 60 years ago by the then Congress government but it has suddenly become Waqf land.”</p>.<p class="bodytext">Ashoka dared Waqf Minister Zameer Ahmed Khan to give documents on notice given to those 100 families, adding that he was ready to face humiliation if his claims were false.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The Opposition leader alleged that notices had been served even after Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said they would not be done, adding that Zameer had conducted Waqf Adalats in several districts.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Demanding that the 1995 Gazette notification should be withdrawn, Ashoka said the “extra-Constitutional” powers given to the Waqf board should be restricted.</p>.<p class="bodytext">He said the Assembly should unanimously support the Centre’s Waqf Amendment Bill, 2024.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Meanwhile, Waqf Minister Zameer Ahmed Khan said on Friday that the poor and farmers cultivating on Waqf land would not be evicted.</p>.<p class="bodytext">“We will soon decide under the leadership of chief minister to hand over the lands to them,” Khan added.</p>
