Shahabuddin's Letter to The Milli Gazette, 11 February, 2000

With reference to your report on Mosques in Haryana (Investigation, 1-15 February, 2000) I do not hold a brief for the Punjab Wakf Board which though a statutory body in existence since independence, has to a large extent failed to recover, protect and preserve the Masjids, Idgahs, Madarsas and Qabristans etc. in the erstwhile East Punjab, now divided into Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Chandigarh.

I also endorse the views that the real culprits are those who ran away to Pakistan and left the entire region practically vacant of Muslim presence!

However, the Central and state Governments have repeatedly assured the Muslim community that the religious places, if unlawfully occupied by the refugees or anyone, shall be vacated. Under the Wakf law, public religious places like Masjids and Qabristans are Wakfs by definition and the Parliament repeatedly extended the period of limitation and has now exempted such properties form the law of limitation. Therefcre, unlawful occupation, howsoever long, can and should be vacated.

But the Board, and particularly, its paid employees, have not handled these cases with the care and concern they deserved. Indeed, the Board initially regularised the occupation by leasing out the properties to the unlawful occupants (irrespective of the purpose for which they were used). In some case, by mutual collusion, they managed to lose civil and criminal suits, one after the other, and thus confirm the occupants in possession.

I must add that in several cases the local Sikh community has voluntarily come forward to restore the Masjids it had occupied and converted into Gurudwaras.

I am not personally aware of the cases Indri, Taprana, Jharsa and Rewari Khera Masjids but I am fully aware of the Hansi case. Interestingly your investigation report is silent on the Hansi case. I have drawn the attention of the CM of Haryana but I must add that an ex-parte order was passed by the local SDM because of obvious neglect by the PWB. The PWB has informed me that they have filed a petition for permanent injunction against the occupations.

I would request the PWB to publish a White Paper on the Restoration of Masjids, Qabristans and other religious places under unlawful occupation and to update it year-after-year. The Report should list the Wakf properties under unlawful occupation, revenue village by revenue village, Tehsil by Tehsil and District by District. The Report should indicate the present condition and the status of legal proceeding, if any, in respect of each property.

I may add, however, that while the PWB may be inefficient and corrupt, thus providing an opportunity for the continuance of unlawful occupation, it does not legitimise it. The law is on our side and all it needs to set the ball rolling is the appointment of a concerned and honest officer as the Administrator, who will not surrender to political pressure. What is also needed is public pressure to be generated by papers like yours and Muslim organisations throughout the country to appoint a proper Board under the Wakf Act, 1995.

The Wakf properties, being squandered in Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh are the responsibility of Muslim Indian community, as a whole. There are very few Muslims in the area to have the necessary strength or weight to protect or preserve them. And the properties are valuable enough to generate income for Muslim educational development all over the country. To this extent, their protection and legal utilisation should be a common concern of all Muslims of the country.