Bommai urges CM to order SIT, CBI probes into Anwar report

Former CM Basavaraj Bommai on Sunday urged CM Siddaramaiah to immediately order a SIT or CBI probe on the basis of the Anwar Manippady report on encroachment of Waqf properties

Former chief minister and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Basavaraj Bommai on Sunday urged CM Siddaramaiah to immediately order a special investigation team (SIT) or Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe on the basis of the Anwar Manippady report on encroachment of Waqf properties.

The former CM clarified that he had only asked the Waqf Board to reclaim the Waqf properties encroached by Congress leaders, as per the Anwar Manippady report, and not farmers’ properties. (PTI)

Manippady, chairman of the Karnataka State Minority Commission, had prepared the report, submitted it to the government in March 2012 when the BJP was in power. It was later tabled in the legislature. The report had allegedly named several state and national Congress leaders for encroaching on the Waqf properties.

“To take action based on the Anwar Manippady report on encroachment of Waqf properties, I urge the Chief Minister to immediately order for SIT or CBI probe,” Bommai said in a post on ‘X’.

Earlier in the day, speaking to reporters in Hubballi, the former CM clarified that he had only asked the Waqf Board to reclaim the Waqf properties encroached by Congress leaders, as per the Anwar Manippady report, and not farmers’ properties.

He said that housing, minorities welfare and wakf minister Zameer Ahmed Khan had released an old video of his, and was falsely propagating that he had asked the Waqf Board to take over farmers’ lands.

“I spoke at a waqf event. I did not hold any Waqf Board meeting. What I mentioned then was based on the report given by Anwar Manipaddy’s committee. It clearly outlines which prominent Congress leaders have fraudulently encroached on Waqf properties. We (BJP govt) did not issue any notice to farmers, nor did we seize any farmers’ land,” Bommai said.

He urged Zameer Ahmed Khan to first recover the Waqf properties encroached by Congress leaders before issuing notices to farmers.

Bommai also criticised chief minister Siddaramaiah, terming his move of instructing the withdrawal of notices to farmers as a political tactic to gain public favour.

“What guarantee that the notices will not be reissued after the elections? The government should instead revoke gazette notifications related to Waqf properties, if the CM truly cares about farmers’ welfare and wants to protect their lands. No notices should be issued to farmers,” he said.

Siddaramaiah on Saturday directed officials to immediately retract all notices sent to farmers concerning Waqf land issues, emphasising that no disturbances should be caused to the farmers.

The directive followed a high-level meeting involving senior officials from the revenue department, minority welfare department, and the Waqf Board. Former deputy CM and BJP legislator CN Ashwath Narayan announced a statewide protest on Monday, advocating for the repeal of the 1974 Waqf property gazette notification.

Leader of opposition in the Karnataka Legislative Council, Chalavadi Narayanaswamy, on Saturday condemned the order as a superficial move designed to sway voters in the upcoming local elections. “Now, you have given the order to withdraw the notices. But still, in the gazette, it is only Waqf’s property. So this is not a solution at all. I will immediately request CM Siddaramaiah to withdraw the 1974 gazette. Otherwise, it is just an eyewash to win the local elections. This will not bring any relief to the farmers,” he said.

Narayan said that the notification, and subsequent records, had been used to enable minority appeasement and serve vote-bank politics, resulting in widespread concerns among farmers, monasteries, and temples who feared land claims on properties historically deemed private.

“Farmers, monasteries, and Hindu temples are reportedly concerned about the misuse of the Waqf Act originally enacted by Congress for minority appeasement,” Ashwath Narayan stated, adding that the BJP’s goal is to restore farmers’ names in the property records and revoke the contentious gazette altogether.

“Merely retracting notices would not be sufficient to safeguard the rights of these landholders, who remain worried about the Waqf Board’s future actions,” he added.

In response to BJP’s remarks, state Congress minister Priyank Kharge dismissed the BJP’s claims as politically motivated, questioning the timing of the controversy, which coincides with assembly elections in states like Jharkhand and Maharashtra.

Kharge argued that the BJP is using the waqf land issue to gain political leverage, stating, “This is nothing but politically motivated. I want to ask the BJP, during their tenure, did Waqf Board shut its doors? Was it shut? There was nothing happening during the BJP tenure. They say one thing and do another. The day the bypolls and Maharashtra polls will be over, this issue will be dead.”