The bifurcation of the AP State Wakf Board is expected to be completed before June 2, the Telangana State Formation Day. But until that happens, the government seems to be in a `sleep mode' when it comes to managing the affairs of the board. The irony is that the board has almost stopped functioning though the minority welfare portfolio is with chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao.The high court has said that the appointment of special officer to the board was illegal. The government should have immediately challenged the order, which it did not. It just filed an appeal about a week ago but has not followed it up with the required action.
The fresh appointment of a special officer to the Telangana state Wakf Board is essential as he will be responsible when it come to the supervision of the bifurcation process which has to be completed within the next month.Also, after the bifurcation the government will need some time to put a new board in place through election and nomination.
The bifurcation process is stuck on two points--the division of assets and investments. The Telangana government wants the assets to be divided in the ratio of 76-24 per cent. The argument it gave was that the TS has 33,929 wakf institutions besides 77,538 acres of landed property as against 4,600 institutions and 67,973 acres of land in Andhra Pradesh.
But the Centre is saying that the assets should be divided in the ratio of 55-45 per cent on the basis of the Muslim population.
AP claims that the revenue accrued from the sale of wakf property located in Visakhapatnam and other places has been used in the construction of the Haj House. Therefore, either the Haj House should be made into a joint property between the two governments or the AP money should be returned with interest. The Telangana government rules out the possibility of joint ownership and says that it has been spending on the upkeep of the Haj House and on the pilgrimage of Muslims to Mecca. Also, since the AP pilgrims will be using the facility to board flights to Jeddah and Medina for the next few years, the investment could be calculated and deducted from the investment which amounts to around Rs 10 crore.
In the meantime, what baffles the watchers of the Wakf Board affairs is the government's silence on the Manikonda Jagir case. It has been over three years that the SC ordered an injunction against the AP High Court verdict that the Manikonda Jagir is a property endowed to Hazrath Hussain Shah Wali Dargah. Previously the government of united AP and now the Telangana government are pitted against the Wakf Board claiming that the property always belonged to the government. The Telangana government had said in the past that it would find a solution to the Manikonda Jagir case. But nothing seems to have happened so far on that front.
Of the total 1,654 acre and 32 gunta wakf land in Manikonda and Guntapalli villages, between 100 and 400 acres was doled out by the government to Emaar which has since then turned into a major scam. The second biggest beneficiary was the Lanco Hills Technology Park over 100 acres that was bought from the YSR government at much less than the mar ket rate. In all about 1,200 acres of the total land has been given away .
One of the proposals before the government is that it should straight away give back the over 400 acres land it is holding to the Wakf Board. Second part of the same proposal is that since it cannot take back the land which is already allotted, it should find land equal in value to the Manikonda Jagir and hand it over to the Wakf Board.
The Dargah managing committee says that the land belongs to the heirs of the mutawalli (caretaker), therefore, it should be given to the committee. However, it is willing to negotiate with the Wakf Board on the ownership and use of land.
The absence of information on Manikonda in public domain indicates that all is not well. The government should not delay this issue any more and take a call at the earliest. It should send a strong message, that is delivering what it had promised.
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