Land Allotment Row: Congress Government In Chhattisgarh Called Out For Allegedly Dealing With Pakistan-Based Outfit

Former state cabinet minister and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Brijmohan Agarwal, on Sunday (2 January) levelled serious allegations against the Bhupesh Baghel-led Congress government in Chhattisgarh.

The former minister called a press conference in Raipur and said that the Baghel government is all set to allocate 25 acres of land to a Pakistan-based organisation. The government has already issued an advertisement asking for claim-objection on the same.

In response to the massive political uproar that followed, the Raipur district administration has now issued a clarification claiming that the application pertaining to the Dawat-e-Islami case has been cancelled and rejected in the initial stage itself.

What Are The Allegations?

MLA Brijmohan Agrawal, speaking to the reporters, said “There are 5,000 such applications in the state, in which many individuals and numerous organisations and institutions have sought land for a ‘community building’. Such people were informed by the Chhattisgarh government that it cannot allot any land more than 750 acres.”

“But on the other hand, the government has invited claims-objections for 25 acres of land so that it can give it to an institution registered in Pakistan. The government has spent lakhs of rupees for plantations on that very land for which the advertisement has been issued,” he added.

The former minister further informed that the organisation Dawat-e-Islami is headed by Maulana Ilyas Qadri. Speaking on Maulana Qadri’s ‘Pakistan connection’, Agrawal claimed that this Pakistan-based institution is into carrying out forced conversions to Islam and is also responsible for furthering terrorism in India.

Clarification By The Raipur District Administration

Devendra Patel, Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM), Raipur, informed that the application from the institution Dawat-e-Islami Raipur (Chhattisgarh), has been rejected in the initial stage itself.

On 28 January 2021, an application was made on behalf of the organisation Dawat-e-Islami by a man named Syed Kalim in the collector's office for allotment of 10 hectares of land in Boria Khurd for the construction of a community building.

As per the preliminary process, on receipt of the application, a memorandum was issued by the Additional Tahsildar for publishing an advertisement. After the publication of the advertisement, the applicant appeared in the court of the Additional Tehsildar and withdrew his application saying that he had mistakenly written the area as 10 hectares, whereas he needed only 10,000 square feet.

Devendra Patel said that the Tehsildar Court application cancelled the application on 01 January 2022, and the case has been closed. The SDM informed that a notice is being served to the Officer-in-Charge Land Allotment (Collectorate) and the Additional Tehsildar for errors in the publication of the said advertisement.

What Is Dawat-e-Islami?

As per their website, the Dawat-e-Islami, literally ‘invitation to Islam’, is a global-non political organisation working for the propagation of Quran and Sunnah throughout the globe. It was established in 1981 in Karachi, Pakistan, by Maulana Ilyas Qadri.

Dawat-e-Islami became the main proponent of Barelvi Sunni Islam — following the Sunnah (traditions of the Prophet of Islam), recitation of devotional poetry such as naat, and expressing deep reverence for sufi saints.

It offers online courses in Islamic studies and runs a television station, Madani Channel — but strictly prohibits any footage of women or female members seen in public, even if their faces are veiled.

In the past few years, the organisation has not only become the new face of Islamic extremism in Pakistan, but now has a significant presence in many key states of India.

The organisation has been spearheading violent protests against those accused of blasphemy and has been at the forefront of organising many Islamic congregations throughout the country.

In December 2018, the Dawat-e-Islami was denied permission for holding an ijtema (Islamic religious congregation) in Telangana after several local Muslim groups and BJP MLA Raja Singh staged a protest because of the group’s terror links.

The Muslim groups in Telangana then said that any meeting organised by Dawat-e-Islami would disturb peace and deepen the wedge between the Sunnis and the Shia Muslims.

Interestingly, in early 2019, the organisation again held a similar ijtema in Hubli, Karnataka, which was openly backed and endorsed by the Congress MLA Prasad Abbayya, who had earlier stirred a controversy by seeking help and votes from the radical Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI) — the political wing of the terror-linked Islamist group Popular Front of India (PFI).

To this pretext, while the Raipur district administration has clarified that the Dawat-e-Islami’s application has already been cancelled, it is only imperative to ask as to why and how Pakistan-based terror-linked outfits even manage to continue their radical operations in the country, and are even allowed to make applications to receive state grants and lands.