By Faisal Fareed, TwoCircles.net,
Lucknow: Living up to its Ganga-Jamuni tehzeeb, the Shia Central Board of Waqfs (SCBW) has contacted the Raja of Ramnagar estate in Barabanki district to take control of a vast estate which was registered with the board by his great grandfather, the then Raja of Ramnagar. The present heir Ratnakar Singh is the son-in-law of Congress general secretary Digvijay Singh.
Ramnagar was a small princely estate in Barabanki situated around 60 kms from district headquarters. The then Raja of the estate Udit Narain Singh through his will in 1912 has registered a vast estate with the SCBW. However, the beneficiary of the Waqf is the eldest son of the family. The estate included several villages which were part of his fiefdom. The deed was registered with SCBW in 1968 and was discovered by chance in the office.
“It is duly registered and entered in our records as Waqf No. 784. The property belongs to the Raja and cannot be sold or mortgaged. We have to follow the will of the deceased Raja and it has to be handed over to the son of the family,” said Chairman, SCBW, Syed Waseem Rizvi. He also categorically mentioned that the will is registered with them in their Register No. 37 which contains all the records registered with the board.
As per the provision Muslims can register their properties with the waqf board after pledging it for public service. It cannot be sold or mortgaged and will remain with the board. However, the caretaker can be from the family as per the will. Earlier, even Hindus also registered their properties with the board for public service. In Lucknow there are several such registered properties. The Padayan ki Masjid and Imambara Jhulelal in Thakurganj all were registered by Hindus with the board.
“We will be writing to the present heir to the estate to claim his property. All the conditions of charity mentioned in the will be followed. A portion of earning will also go to Mazar in Dewa Sharif as mentioned in the will,” said Rizvi.
When contacted, Raja Ratnakar Singh admitted that his great great grandfather has executed such will. “We have the original will but were not aware that it is registered with the SCBW. We will surely fulfill all the condition laid down in the will,” said Singh.