The former Minister S.K. Kanta has demanded that Chief Minister Siddaramaiah drop Minister for Minority Welfare, Haj and Wakf Qamar-ul Islam from the Cabinet as he is facing charges of illegally purchasing wakf land in the name of his wife and father in-law.
Addressing a press conference here on Wednesday, Mr. Kanta said in the report on encroachment of wakf properties submitted by the former Karnataka State Minorities Commission chairman Anwar Manippady, Mr. Islam’s name was among those that figured prominently.
On Mr. Islam’s statement that the report would not be implemented now, Mr. Kanta said it was surprising that the report submitted by Mr. Manippady had been accepted by the BJP government and “how can a report that contains serious charges against Mr. Islam be rejected by the person facing the charges.”
He said Mr. Siddaramaiah, who took charge of the State on the promise of providing clean and corruption-free governance, should ensure that the report was implemented in toto, and the report should not be allowed to be changed by Mr. Islam.
Mr. Kanta said the report had clearly stated that in Survey No. 13 of the Sheikh Roza in Gulbarga City, 1.1 acres of wakf land was illegally purchased by Mr. Islam in the name of his wife. Similarly, 8.34 acres of wakf land was allegedly purchased in the name of his father in-law for which Mr. Islam himself was holding general power of attorney.
“If Mr Islam, who is facing charges of alleged illegal purchase of wakf lands, is not dropped from the Cabinet, we would have no other alternative but to launch a sustained agitation,” Mr. Kanta cautioned.
