Samaj Parivarthana Samudaya founder-president S. R. Hiremath has said that the Congress government should not refrain from debating the report on the encroachment of Wakf property in the State.
Addressing presspersons here recently, Mr. Hiremath said that it was a very serious issue. However, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, downplaying the reports, gives an impression that he was trying to protect those who have illegally grabbed Wakf property, he added.
It is learnt that Justice N. Anand, the then Upalokayukta, has spent a lot of time and energy in finalising the Wakf reports based on a detailed enquiry done by the Lokayukta into the encroachment. The government should consider the report and initiate action against all those involved in the encroachment of Wakf property, Mr. Hiremath said.
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On the issue of forest land encroachment by powerful persons and politicians in Bengaluru, Mr. Hiremath said that the government had superseded the Special Team headed by U.V. Singh to look into the forest land encroachment issue only to protect the corrupt. This team did its job well and nailed over 150 people for encroaching upon forest land. However, Mr. Siddaramaiah, without citing any valid reason, superseded this special team and formed a high-level committee headed by the then chief secretary Kaushik Mukherjee. This move of the government seems not only mala fide, but also serious and well planned to shield some Ministers, among others, and also to expedite the process of preparing documents to save them, Mr. Hiremath alleged.
The Samudaya, in association with other likeminded organisations, would shortly launch a people’s movement against the Congress government in the State, he said. The movement would highlight the maladministration and corruption of the government and would ask the people to teach the Congress a lesson in the next Assembly elections, he added. The movement would be launched from Mysuru, Mr. Hiremath said.