Changes to Waqf Act won’t affect poor Muslims: D.K. Aruna

Hyderabad:BJP MP D.K. Aruna said amendments to the Waqf Act are should not be misrepresented and they are not going to affect the poor Muslims. She informed that around 80,000 acres of land are under the Wakf Board in the state.

Addressing a meeting of the Waqf land-affected farmers in Zaheerabad, Aruna said, “People of different communities are victims of the Waqf Act. It is being wrongly said that changes to the Act would deprive Muslims of their lands and mosques. The changes are not linked to any religion. I appeal to the Muslim community not to fall prey to such propaganda.”

Aruna, who a member of the joint parliamentary committee (JPC) on the Waqf Act, said she would take the issue of Zaheerabad farmers to the notice of the JPC. She said farmers from other places like Sangareddy, Maheswaram, Boduppal and Medak districts were also meeting her to represent on their land issues.

She informed that the JPC has been eliciting opinions from different sections of the people and would submit a report to the Speaker. “After Dharani system was introduced, in Telangana, several lands were shown as Waqf lands. Farmers are now suffering and are not able to even sell their crops as they lack documents. The farmers have been tilling the land even before the said law came into being. The changes to the Wakf Act will benefit poor Muslim women and widows,” she said.

In another meeting, she said the BJP would not tolerate what she called anti-India assertions of Rahul Gandhi on foreign soil. She opined his talk has hurt the feelings of people.