Bengaluru: Hindu outfits celebrate BBMP order that says Idgah ground belongs to govt

A day after the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) stated that the ownership of the Idgah Maidan in Chamarajpet is with Karnataka Revenue Department, various Hindu organisations on Sunday gathered near the maidan (ground) to celebrate the order, the News Minute reported.

The groups gathered at the maidan on August 7 to burst crackers and distributed sweets to locals.

BBMP joint commissioner (west) SM Srinivasa held a press conference and said that the Wakf board failed to claim the rights of the land at survey No. 40 and under quasi-judicial powers, orders were passed stating that under section 149 of BBMP Act 2020, the civic agency cancelled its earlier order asking the board to apply for khata (a legal document), and stated that it was a revenue department property.

Srinivas said: "We issued notices to the Wakf board and gave 42 days to submit all the records to prove ownership but it failed to do so."

The order stated that the Wakf board members had only presented the Supreme Court orders, which was insufficient despite several extensions. The BBMP has dismissed their requests, stating that the Supreme Court judgment from 1964 only granted congregational rights to the Muslim community and did not confer ownership rights.

The recent controversy over the Idgah ground began with right-wing Hindutva outfits claiming that the ground was public property owned by the BBMP. However, the Wakf board claimed that it owned the land. BBMP chief commissioner Tushar Girinath later said that though the BBMP's name was mentioned under the column 'holders', the khata showed that the civc body did not own the land and gave time to the Wakf board to get a khata done by providing supporting documents.

It did not go down well with Hindu outfits who also staged a protest and observed a bandh on July 12 in Chamarajpet.