Vijayapura, 27 Oct

Industries Minister MB Patil on Sunday said notices were served to people of Honavad village in the district, under the Waqf Act, to vacate their ancestral land, following an error in the old gazette notification.

He said that the Karnataka Waqf Board cannot claim rights over 1,200 acres of farmers' lands in the village.

“In 1974, in the Gazette notification it was written as Honavad village by mistake. The land there is basically a part of the Mahal Bagh survey numbers,” Patil, who is Vijayapura district in charge nminister, told reporters.

In 1977, the Waqf Board rectified its documents, which made it clear that only 10 acres of cremation ground belongs to it.

"The remaining 1,200 acres of land (claimed to be of Waqf) belongs to the farmers. Hence, not a single inch of land belonging to the farmers is Waqf property, the Minister explained.

Patil said he would convene a meeting with the district, revenue department and Waqf board officials to sort it out.

The matter pertaining to 10 acres of cremation ground is also subjudice and people should wait for the outcome, he said adding the cremation ground is also a Panchayat property.

When the minister’s attention was drawn towards the change in mutation in villages in Indi Taluk of Vijayapura, he said he was referring to Honavad village and not Indi.

BJP forms panel

BJP has constituted a five-member team to study and listen to the plight of farmers who were allegedly served notice.

The team comprises, MP Govind Karjol, MLAs Harish Poonja and Mahesh Tenginkai, former MLC Arun Shahapur and BJP Kisan Morcha state general secretary Kalmarudappa.

The team, however, did not have the Vijayapura BJP MLA Basanagouda Patil Yatnal.

According to a statement issued by BJP state president B Y Vijayendra, the team will meet the affected farmers on 29 October.

Villagers of Honavad were agitated when they got notices that all of their land belonged to Waqf board.

They staged a demonstration at the Deputy Commissioner's office in Vijayapura on Saturday. PTI