After the District Administrations across Kashmir, the Waqf Board is the latest to issue an order asking people to vacate the properties belonging to ‘Waqf Board’ immediately across Jammu Kashmir.
BJP leader and Waqf Board Chairman Dr. Andrabi had said that as per the Central Waqf Act residential lease of Waqf properties is null & void & so the Board has started the legal process to vacate all residential leased properties which have been distributed to the “influential”.
In January, Jammu Kashmir Waqf Board launched a comprehensive exercise for the valuation of its hundreds of commercial properties across the JK
“Continuing with its reformative agenda initiated under the leadership of Chairperson, Dr Darakhshan Andrabi, J-K Waqf Board has started an exhaustive Valuation exercise of its hundreds of commercial assets spread across the Jammu & Kashmir,” Waqf had said in a statement.
As per details received by The Kashmiriyat, the board chairman has said that “influential” persons who have “occupied” the Waqf properties should be vacated within 15 days.
In August, the Waqf board has imposed a blanket ban on the collection of money by Khudamans across the Khanqahs in Jammu Kashmir.
Pertinently, on August 05, 2019, the Government of India abrogated Articles 35A and 370 after which central laws were applicable in the region. The locally managed Waqf board was also centralized and now the funds collected at the Khanqahs and Mosques across Kashmir are managed by the Central Government.
Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, the then Union Minister for Minority Affairs in 2020 July said that after the abolition of Article 370, Waqf properties will be taken over by the Central Waqf board. He said that the property and the income of the shrines in Kashmir will be used for socio-economic-educational activities under ‘Pradhan Mantri Jan Vikas Program’.
He said that the funds of the Waqf board will be under the Prime Minister’s Public Development Program.
Naqvi said that for the first time since independence, the government led by Narendra Modi will provide 100 percent of funds for the development of educational and health institutes on Waqf properties across the country.
Naqvi added that there are about 6 lakh 64 thousand registered Waqf properties across the country.
Jammu Kashmir Muslim Auqaf Trust (MAT) came into existence in 1940 as part of the resistance movement led by Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah to free Khanqahs and mosques of Kashmir from the Dogra rule with the intent to form the local community-based help for the destitute.
MAT was disbanded in 2004 by Mufti Mohammad Sayeed and Waqf came into the picture.
As per official figures, the Waqf board owns 1453 shops, 2160 Kanals of orchard land, 99 Kanals of paddy land, 6840 Kanals of forest land, 32 Kanals of marshy land, and 63 Kanals of Eidgah land.