Waqf board to put encroachers on notice

The newly constituted Punjab Waqf Board has decided to issue notices to all those illegally occupying land and/or properties owned by the board. Around 70 per cent of the Waqf properties are said to be under encroachment, while 19,782 tenants/lessees are not paying any rent.

This was disclosed by Punjab Waqf Board member and AAP’s Malerkotla MLA Md Jamil Ur Rahman, in an interview to The Tribune, after a meeting of the board on Monday.

He alleged that most of the Waqf properties were encroached upon by politicians, besides former and serving police and civil administration officers. “During the previous regimes, the government turned a blind eye to the illegal occupation of properties, but now the board will do everything to regain control of all such properties,” he said.

The meeting was convened in the wake of the enactment of the Waqf Amendment Act, 2024. “After talking to legal experts, we have decided to start serving notices on people illegally occupying the Waqf properties. There are 25,403 Waqf estates, with 75,965 properties. The total area under Waqf properties is 36,622.253 acres,” he said.

Rahman said the Muslims in Punjab were against the amended law. When asked if appointing a CEO, irrespective of his religion, would help the board get back its encroached properties, he said, “Will Hindus allow Muslims or Sikhs on their shrine boards? Or for that matter, would Sikhs be okay with Hindus or Muslims in the SGPC? If not, then why is our religious freedom, guaranteed by the Constitution, being infringed upon?”

“Is this an attempt to alienate 22 crore Muslims? Although it is being said that non-Muslims will handle only the administrative work, what makes the government think that Muslims are not fit to handle their own affairs? ” he said.

The Waqf board member said the highest number of tenants not paying rent were in Amritsar, Gurdaspur, Jalandhar, Hoshiarpur and Ludhiana. They had been given on lease Waqf properties from 2014 onwards. “Last year, Rs 57 crore was earned as rent from these properties, and we are using it for various charitable, educational and welfare activities,” he said.

Punjab