Punjab: Waqf Board will send notice to encroachers

Punjab: The newly constituted Punjab Waqf Board has decided to issue notices to those illegally occupying land and/or properties owned by the board. Nearly 70 per cent of the waqf properties are reportedly encroached upon, while 19,782 tenants/leaseholders are not paying any rent. This was revealed by Punjab Waqf Board member and AAP’s Malerkotla MLA Mohammad Jameel ur Rehman in an interview to The Tribune after the board’s meeting on Monday. He alleged that most of the waqf properties are occupied by politicians as well as former and present police and civil administration officials. “During the previous governments, the government turned a blind eye to illegal occupation of properties, but now the board will make every effort to regain control of all such properties,” he said. The meeting was called in view of the enactment of the Waqf Amendment Act, 2024. He said, “After talking to legal experts, we have decided to start sending notices to those illegally occupying Waqf properties.

There are 25,403 Waqf estates, which comprise 75,965 properties. The total area under Waqf properties is 36,622.253 acres.” Rehman said Muslims in Punjab are against the amended law. When asked if the appointment of a CEO, irrespective of his religion, would help the board get back its encroached properties, he said, “Will Hindus allow Muslims or Sikhs in their shrine boards? Or, will Sikhs have no problem with Hindus or Muslims in the SGPC? If not, then why is our religious freedom guaranteed by the Constitution being violated?” He said, “Is this an attempt to alienate 22 crore Muslims? Though it is being said that non-Muslims will only handle administrative work, why does the government feel that Muslims are not capable of handling their affairs?” The Waqf Board member said the highest number of tenants who have not paid rent are in Amritsar, Gurdaspur, Jalandhar, Hoshiarpur and Ludhiana. They were leased out Waqf properties since 2014. “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.