By TwoCircles.net staff reporter
Hyderabad : The Andhra Pradesh government’s decision to declare waqf properties as the government properties and sell them away to corporate houses has drawn harsh criticism. Lal Jan Pasha, Chairman of the Joint Parliamentary Committee on waqf land, and Tariq Qadri, member of the State Minority Commission, have condemned the government for the decision.
Three leading Urdu newspapers including “Siasat,” “Munsif” and “Rahnuma-e-Deccan” have already launched a campaign to save the waqf lands in the state, especially in and around Hyderabad.
Pasha describes it senseless that instead of protecting the waqf properties, the government is selling them away to mobilise funds for other projects.
It is estimated that about 1,86,000 hectare of waqf land has either been encroached upon or sold away by the government and private individuals.