UP Waqf GO revocation: 80 per cent of Waqf cemetery land may move to state's administration

The decision of the Uttar Pradesh government to conduct a survey of Waqf properties following Madrasas will lead to the body losing nearly 80 per cent of the cemetery land which it administers now.

Lucknow: After the survey of madrasas in Uttar Pradesh, a survey of Waqf properties will be initiated by the government which the stakeholders believe would have an impact of nearly 80 per cent of the cemetery land which was earlier under the Muslim body's purview.

The government revoked with immediate effect a 1989 Revenue Department order under which uncultivable land at several places was "illegally registered" as Waqf property. According to an official, an order issued on September 7, the state directed all divisional commissioners and district magistrates to examine all proceedings taken under the 1989 order to correct revenue records accordingly while seeking a report within a month.

Meanwhile, Minister of State for Minority Welfare and Waqf Danish Azad Ansari termed the exercise a "normal departmental process", saying it has nothing to do with other Waqf properties. The 1989 order was issued when the Congress was in power in UP with Narayan Datt Tiwari as its chief minister.

Department Deputy Secretary Shakeel Ahmed Siddiqui said it has come to the notice of the government that under a mandate issued by the Revenue Department on April 7, 1989, common uncultivable land has been "irregularly registered" in revenue records as Waqf property.

Siddiqui said there were pieces of barren land that were registered as Waqf property by manipulating provisions of the Uttar Pradesh Muslim Waqf Act, 1960. In the order issued by the government, it has been said there is no provision in the Act for the registration of properties without following due process. Siddiqui said according to the Act, only those properties come under the category of Waqf which are donated for religious and welfare work according to Muslim law and customs.

Although the ruling BJP attribute several benefits to the survey, stakeholders are pretty skeptical about the outcome which they feel would lead them to give up nearly 80 per cent of the cemeteries which were under the Waqf's purview.

Speaking to ETV Bharat, BJP's minority wing president Kunwar Basit Ali termed the exercise as part of the welfare measures undertaken for the minority community. On the need for an Waqf survey right after the survey of unaided madrasas, Kunwar maintained that the media reports suggest a huge chunk of the Waqf property were being encroached upon illegally.

"Those reports suggest illegal possession of such waqf property and illegal buildings being constructed on the waqf property. There are even reports of illegal sale of waqf property. The survey will put an end all these corruptions and that is why the government has decided to conduct a survey," he said adding that marriage halls, coaching centers and other institutions will be established on the waqf property for the welfare of the minority community.

An officer of the board said on the condition of anonymity that through this survey, 80 percent of the graveyards in the state will shift to the administration of the state. Most of them are located on fallow or barren land and the cancellation of the GO will necessitate a re-survey.

If the order is given, these cemeteries will be excluded from the property of the board. Apart from this, the survey will also inquire into various aspects including the income of the dargah, waqf property documents. (with Agency inputs)