The Bihar State Sunni Waqf Board has reportedly claimed the ownership of an entire village, where around 95% of the residents are Hindus. The board has sent notices to at least seven people in the Govindpur village, located 30 kilometres from Patna, demanding the residents vacate the land within 30 days, according to a report in AajTak.
As per the notices received by the villagers, the land they occupy belongs to the Waqf Board and they will have to vacate it.
Among those who have received notices from the Bihar State Sunni Waqf Board are Brijesh Ballabh Prasad, Malti Devi, Rajkishore Mehta, Ramlal Sao, Sanjay Prasad, Sudip Kumar and Surendra Vishwakarma. After receiving the notices from the Waqf Board, the seven villagers even filed a plea before the Patna High Court.
The Waqf Board has recently ordered the evacuation of Govindpur village in Bihar, a predominantly Hindu area.
It has fraudulently acquired vast amounts of land nationwide, making it the third-largest landowner in the country.
The central government has now initiated steps to… pic.twitter.com/FQ4ba7O92B
— HinduJagrutiOrg (@HinduJagrutiOrg) September 4, 2024
However, the villagers dismissed the claim, saying the land was handed over to them by their ancestors, the report stated.
The High Court, meanwhile, noted that the land was in the names of the villagers’ descendants since 1910, the report said.
Amid the tussle, a BJP team led by Satyendra Singh, former party candidate from Fatuha assembly constituency, visited the village and talked to the residents.
The team will submit its report to BJP MP from Patna Sahib Ravi Shankar Prasad. The team assured the residents that justice would be done with them. “We visited the affected village on the directive of MP Ravi Shankar Prasad,” Singh told the media.
“We have no option but to knock the doors of the judiciary to get justice. We have been living here for several decades and never came across such a situation earlier. We will fight for justice,” a resident said, adding that they have provided all documents to the BJP team.
Satyendra Singh said the copies of notices issued to the residents village have been obtained from them and the same would be sent to the Ravi Shankar Prasad. The Waqf Board erected a notice board at the entrance of the village staking its claim of ownership on the entire village.
“The Waqf Board came into existence after Independence. But our forefathers have been living here before Independence. How can Waqf Board claim its ownership over the entire village land?” a resident asked.
Patna district administration has said that they were keeping a close watch over the development at the village ever since notices were served on residents by the Waqf Board.
Located 30 km from the state capital, Govindpur has a population of about 5000.
