Farmers Protest as Waqf Board Claims 1,200 Acres in Karnataka, Citing Centuries-Old Records

Continuing with its erratic tradition of making claims on lands belonging to others, the Waqf Board has now pounced over the ancestral lands of Farmers in Karnataka’s Vijayapura. As on Thursday, farmers in Karnataka’s Vijayapura district filed a petition with district in-charge Minister MB Patil after receiving notices asserting that their land now belongs to the Waqf Board. This conflict involves 1 ,200 acres in Honwada village, Tikota taluk, with local officials attempting to reclassify the area as the Shah Aminuddin Dargah. The notices, reportedly sent by the tehsildar, cite outdated government records as evidence of the Board’s ownership—a claim the farmers fiercely contest, pointing out that the dargah has not existed for centuries and that their families have owned this land for generations.