K’taka govt ensuring welfare of Waqf: Surya after FIR against him over social media post

Bengaluru (The Uttam Hindu): Reacting strongly to the FIR against him over his recent post quoting media reports regarding the suicide of a farmer eight years ago over a notice by the Waqf, BJP National Youth President and Bengaluru South MP Tejasvi Surya stated that the Karnataka government was ensuring the welfare of the Board and not the growers.

Speaking to reporters in Hubballi on Friday, MP Tejasvi Surya stated, “I had posted the message to warn the state government about the existing situation and woes of farmers. The government thinks that it is absolutely okay if farmers commit suicide, but the Waqf Board should not be affected in any manner.”

During the recent visit to Karnataka of the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) on the Waqf Amendment Bill, a petition was received from a farmer from Haveri stating that one Rudrappa had committed suicide.

Based on the petition, the post was made, Surya stated.

“Minister for RDPR, IT and BT Priyank Kharge has no job but to wait and file FIRs against political opponents. The Supreme Court will rap them for their FIRs,” Surya slammed.

The Karnataka government on Thursday filed an FIR against Tejasvi Surya for posting the message alleging suicide by a farmer eight years ago after the Waqf Board issued a notice claiming ownership of his property.

According to a statement by the Chief Minister’s Office on Friday, the FIR was filed by the Cybercrime, Economic Offences, Narcotics (CEN) police in Haveri district of Karnataka.

The case has been booked under Section 353(2) of the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita – 2023.

A case has also been booked against the Editor of Kannada Duniya e-paper and the Editor of Kannada News e-Paper regarding the matter.

The FIR stated, “Tejasvi Surya on his social media handle stated that a ‘farmer in Haveri commits suicide after finding his land taken over by the Waqf. In their haste to appease minorities, CM Siddaramaiah and Minister Zameer Khan have unleashed catastrophic effects in Karnataka that are becoming impossible to contain with every passing day,’ which was based on a false report by Kannada Duniya e-paper.”

The report published by Kannada Duniya and Kannada News e-Paper on their portals stated that in Rudrappa, a farmer who was a resident of Hanaragi village in Haveri district committed suicide eight years ago.

It alleged that Rudrappa ended his life after his four acres of land was shown as a Waqf property in the land records.

The FIR says this is false news and it constitutes a crime.

The development is likely to trigger a controversy in the state. The Chairperson of the Joint Parliamentary Committee on the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, Jagdambika Pal, along with JPC member and Tejasvi Surya on Thursday had received over 500 petitions from farmers in Karnataka who submitted that their agricultural land was being claimed by the Waqf Board as its property.

Farmers from Vijayapura, Bidar, Kalaburgi, Hubballi, Bagalkot and Belagavi districts of Karnataka have written to Pal and Surya regarding the matter.

The JPC Chairperson on Thursday was on a visit to Hubballi, Vijayapura and Belagavi, upon a request by Tejasvi Surya, to understand the concerns of the farmers.

“The exponential rise in the number of instances in Karnataka where agricultural lands are being claimed by the state Waqf Board is happening during a period in which the Joint Parliamentary Committee on the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2024, is meeting to deliberate on the reforms for the Waqf Act, 1995," Tejasvi Surya stated.

"Karnataka Minority Affairs and Waqf Minister Zameer Ahmed Khan has been conducting 'Waqf Adalats' in several parts of the state. Such Waqf Adalats do not have any valid status under the Constitution or any of the Revenue Department Rules," the BJP leader said.