Team Mission Save Constitution Save Waqf Properties descended on Begumpet Gottala Eidgah on the hot afternoon of Saturday, July 8, 2023. The reason for the visit was to personally verify news of unhindered encroachment that was conveniently taking place during the three holidays from Friday, July 7 to Sunday, July 9.
The Waqf Board was closed on Friday for Eid e Ghadeer, July 8 was a second Saturday and July 9 was Sunday. So it was time to make hay while the sun shines for vested interests with political backing cutting across political ideologies.
The team comprising Maulana Sufi Khairuddin and activists Sarah Mathews and Majid Shuttari found that the 92 acres prime property was being encroached upon in an insidious manner. To the unschooled eye, it would appear that some temporary empty sheds were on the edges of the property, some carelessly placed within as well. A number of ancient dilapidated buses of no worth ringed one end of the property. As the team circled around the vast property in a car to understand the extent of encroachment, they found that some borders of the Waqf property were stacked up with rubble from nearby construction sites making it impossible to look into the property. Some workshops and garages were inside the property. If this “status quo” continues, nothing much will remain of this Waqf property.
Begumpet Gottala Eidgah has an interesting history to it. The entire land was gifted by Aurangzeb, the Mughal emperor, for the maintenance of the Alamgiri Masjid Idgah and graveyard. The mosque that is seen today is a recent one though the remnants of the old mosque remain in the site. The Waqf Board is in dispute with some private parties claiming ownership.
The Telangana High Court directed maintenance of status quo by all parties on about 90 acres. But this status quo is being violated by “private parties” while the Waqf Board continues with its characteristic lackadaisical approach towards protecting Waqf properties.
This is an important case highlighted by Advocate Mehmood Pracha in earlier visits. It will be taken up in the Waqf Darbar to held on Sunday, July 16 at Abid Ali Khan Centenary Hall, the Siasat Daily Office under the able guidance of Mehmood Pracha and a battery of lawyers.
