Karnataka Government Obtains Jain Basadi Land Granted To Waqf Board Following Public Furore Over Illegal 'Mosque' On The Site

In a victory of sorts, locals in Kodavoor village in Udupi Taluk of Karnataka have managed to reverse an order that had 'granted' land where once stood a Jain Basadi to the waqf board. Through a government notification issued on 22 June 2021, the Department of Revenue has denotified the grant of land to the Waqf board and taken the same under its own administration.

" While it was passed after our government came to power, it was based on the report of the earlier Deputy Commissioner Priyanka Mary, who sent a report that gave away not the portion where an illegal structure stands but the entire 67 cents which also has a Jumadi/Dhoomavathi Daivasthana as belonging to the mosque. The present DC had clarified that the land doesn't belong to the Waqf and sought its denotification. On behalf of people, I had appealed to our Revenue Minister who has successfully been able to reverse the wrongdoing," explained Bhat.

The story so far

Thus read a statement accorded to Brihanmumbai Bharat Varsheeya Digambar Jain Mahasabha's Mumbai general secretary Bharatkumar Kala, which was circulated along with the video of land in Kodavur in Udupi Taluk of Karnataka, which had been transferred to the Waqf board.

Much to the horror of Hindus and Jains, the widely circulated video highlighted how a land on which once stood a Jain Basadi had been transferred to the Waqf board by the Revenue Department of the Karnataka government. And the subliminal messaging in the video was that a "BJP government" had cheated the Jain community and was hands in glove with those wishing to encroach upon this land. A lot of groups had been rallying for the reversal of this act by the administration as it caught the attention of the Jain community across the nation.

For decades now, locals have been objecting to the erection of an illegal structure, 'which doesn't even have a house number', and its transformation into 'Kalmath Masjid' by Muslims who arent even locals. It is an area where also stands a large pushkarini (temple tank), that is predominantly Hindu who have been protesting against this structure which had then begun to broadcast Namaz with a police van stationed outside fearing clashes between the communities. The issue was being heard in the local court and the Waqf board as per reports.

While none of the local Muslim families in the area offered Namaz there, locals accused 'outsiders' of trying to disturb the peace in the area.

Bhat said those representing the illegal structure have been claiming it is a mosque of the Tippu era, but there is enough evidence to prove that there once stood a Jain Basadi. "Now with this order of denotification the locals stand vindicated and whatever needs to be done next 'legally', be it the demolition of the illegal structure or work to ascertain the existence of the Jain Basadi, shall be duly undertaken," he assured.