16 Sep SC no to Ganesh puja at Bengaluru Idgah ground, HC allows it in Hubli
Preliminary Examination:
Indian Polity and Governance-Constitution, Political System, Panchayati Raj, Public Policy, Rights Issues, etc.
Mains Examination:
General Studies I: Communalism, Regionalism & Secularism.
General Studies II: Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation.
Why is it in the news?
The Supreme court of India didn’t permit the celebration of Ganesh Chaturthi at the Idgah Ground in Bengaluru.
At the same time, the Dharwad bench of the Karnataka high court, declined the stay order of the Hubli Mayor, allowing the celebration at Idgah maidan in Hubli.
What is an idgah?
Idgah is a term used in south Asian Islamic culture to refer to an open-air enclosure, usually outside the city. The land is reserved for eid prayers, offered in the morning of eid-al -Fitr and eid -al- adha
These reserved lands are usually not used for daily prayers at other times of the year.
Idgah Maidan in Bangalore is 2.1 acres of land in the heart of Chamrajpet, one of the oldest localities of Bengaluru.
The ground is used as a playground, with an Idgah for prayers on the festivals of Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha.
The map of Bengaluru and documents from 1871 and 1938 also state that the land has an Idgah and burial ground.
What are the controversies?
- The particular land was secured by the Hubli Municipality in the early years of the 20th century.
- In 1921, the Anjuman-e-Islam petitioned the municipality to authorities the Muslim community to hold prayers in the maidan.
- The municipality accepted the representation, and the land was leased to the Anjuman for 999 years. The lease agreement was subsequently confirmed by the then government of the Bombay Presidency.
- But recently, the revenue minister of Karnataka R. Ashoka, stated that “The land, which is referred to by different names by people, actually belongs to the revenue department. The revenue records show that it does not belong to the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) or any ‘Board”.
What is Anjuman-e-Islam?
Dr. Badruddin Tyabji, !st acting chief justice of Bombay High court and, the 3rd president of the Indian national congress was the founder of the Anjuman –I-Islam, he founded this educational and social organization in India in 1874, with a vision of providing better educational and social opportunities to the Muslim community.
What Anjuman-e-Islam and 999 years lease agreement?
- The government permitted the Anjuman-e-Islam, in the 1960s to construct a commercial building on the land, under some specified terms and conditions.
- In 1972, the Anjuman-e-Islam tried to execute the commercial plan under the guidelines given by the government, and subsequently, a structure was erected,
- But there came legal challenges to The Anuman-e-Islam’s executions of the permissions from the government, stating, that the lease agreement does not include any construction work, and the matter went through many decades of litigation.
- In the supreme court in 2010, Court confirmed the order of the Karnataka High Court and the lower courts, ruling that the Idgah maidan was the exclusive property of the Hubli-Dharwad Municipal Corporation and that the Anjuman had the license only to hold prayers on the ground twice a year, and not to build any permanent structure on it.
The current situation
Recently The High Court has seen that the Idgah maidan in Hubbali actually belongs to the Hubbali Dharwad Municipal Corporation and that the land has been leased for 999 years to the Anjuman-i-Islam, is true.
So the High court has declared that HDMC has all the rights over the use of land.
What is a Wakf property?
The Wakf Act defines Wakf as a permanent dedication by a person professing Islam, of any movable or immovable property for any purpose recognized by Muslim law as pious, religious, or charitable.
Sources:
https://bit.ly/3qNNwhC(the Hindu) (Idgah Maidan row: Revenue min says the land belongs to dept)
https://bit.ly/3eOskFD(TheIndianExpress)(A short history of the Hubli-Dharwad Idgah controversy)
Plutus IAS current affairs eng med 16th Sep 2022
No Comments