Across Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, properties attached to structures belonging to religious institutions and places of worship of different faiths are under encroachments, complaints piling up at the Andhra Pradesh State Minorities Commission reveal.
The Commission has got close to 55 complaints against encroachment of religious structures by unscrupulous elements, including commercial establishments and land sharks. A majority of structures which are encroached upon are located in rural Telangana, especially in Warangal, Karimnagar and Khammam districts. In Andhra Pradesh, the structures located in Guntur, Krishna and Nellore districts were found to be facing the threat.
Properties, according to complainants, are encroached upon and occupied over two to five years. In some cases, land deals are illegally made using fake documents that lay claim on parts of religious structures. Among the structures encroached upon, are 25 Wakf properties, 15 church properties and three Gurdwaras. While the commission has not admitted all cases, show-cause notices were served to 13 of the accused, officials confirmed. “The properties that are encroached upon are those owned by respective religious communities for over 60 decades. Going by the first hearing, some of these properties are almost completely taken over by land sharks,” an officer said. Alarmingly, as per some complaints some illegal land deals were made as early as in 1950s. Among the encroached structures were a few newly constructed ones built less than a decade ago.
Commission authorities said that according to complaints received at district adalats held by them, another 40 complaints were filed by people on encroachment of Wakf and church properties, said a senior official of the AP Minorities Commission.
“The complaints are not registered but we expect to use our good offices to aid the affected parties,” said Abid Rasool Khan, Chairman of the Commission.
