BJP rakes up Waqf land row, alleges ‘appeasement politics’ threatening farmers’ livelihood
He accused the Karnataka government of jeopardizing farmers’ land rights by allowing Wakf references to be entered in land records and demanded an immediate halt to the practice.
Ashoka, leader of the Opposition in the Karnataka Assembly, in a post on topic ‘X’, claimed that Foundation references have already been entered in the RTCs of more than 1.8 lakh farmers and the process has been expanded to cover three lakh RTCs in 31 districts.
He also called for a White Paper on the subject.
“By dragging farmers’ land into the Wakf debate, whose interests is the Congress government protecting? @INCKarnataka government’s appeasement and vote bank policies have now reached a stage where it threatens the existence of farmers in the state,” he said.
Ashoka said if the reports were erroneous, the government should immediately present the facts before the public, but if such records were actually made, it should explain why farmers faced uncertainty in selling their land, taking bank loans and exercising their property rights.
Ashoka claimed that, according to media reports, the Foundation references have been entered in more than 1.8 lakh Rights Tenancies and Crop Records (RTCs) and that the process may eventually cover three lakh RTCs affecting farmers in 31 districts. He said the figures include 73,000 RTCs in Uttara Kannada, 48,000 in Dakshina Kannada, 38,000 in Shivamogga. 18,000 in South Bengaluru and 17,000 in Kalaburagi and Bagalkote.
He demanded the government to immediately stop the process, review all the controversial entries in farmers’ RTCs and publish a White Paper before the public.
“Farmers’ land and rights must be protected. We will never allow farmers’ lands to be swallowed in the name of the Foundation!” Ashoka said.
