By TwoCircles.net staff reporter
Panipat (Haryana): The Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA) is acquiring some wakf properties in the state, ignoring the Wakf Act 1995. HUDA has acquired a piece of land in the district of Gurgaon, sending angry waves among Muslims. The Punjab Wakf Board had included the acquired wakf property in Tiharsa village in Gurgaon in its gazette in 1973-1974. An Idgah and a mosque were already built there at that time. Now that Haryana Wakf Board wants to carry out further construction work there, HUDA has illegally acquired the land and also demolished about half of these constructions. This action by HUDA has caused intense anguish among Muslims.
A large population of Muslims inhabits in Tiharsa village. They offer daily prayers in the partially-demolished mosque. Juma and Eid prayers are also offered in these places of worship. In spite of the efforts made by local Muslim population and the Wakf Board, HUDA is not vacating the places. It has also ignored the instruction from the joint parliamentary committee (formed by the union government and Muslim representatives from both houses of the Parliament to oversee the activities of Wakf Boards in states). The committee had directed the state government to immediately hand over the places to local Muslims.
Meanwhile, HUDA has acquired an old Muslim graveyard in Ramgarh village in the district of Panj Kulah. Local Muslims have been making efforts to regain control of the graveyard but in vain. The Haryana Wakf Board also wrote to chief administrator to release the graveyard but no response came from him. In the meantime, HUDA has started digging inside the graveyard.