The Karnataka government has filed an FIR against BJP National Youth President and Member of Parliament Tejasvi Surya for allegedly spreading misinformation regarding a farmer’s suicide linked to a Waqf Board land dispute. The complaint, lodged by the Cybercrime, Economic Offences, and Narcotics (CEN) police in Haveri district, accuses Surya of posting misleading content on his social media handle, suggesting that a farmer in Haveri district took his life after his land was claimed as Waqf property.
The post, which referred to a Kannada Duniya e-paper report, stated, “A farmer in Haveri commits suicide after finding his land taken over by the Waqf. In their haste to appease minorities, CM Siddaramaiah and Minister Zameer Khan have unleashed catastrophic effects in Karnataka that are becoming impossible to contain with every passing day.” The FIR, however, asserts that this report is false.
The case has been filed under Section 353(2) of the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita – 2023, with similar charges also placed against the editors of Kannada Duniya and Kannada News e-paper for publishing the original report. The report claimed that Rudrappa, a farmer from Hanaragi village, ended his life eight years ago after four acres of his land were marked as Waqf property. Officials state that these claims are untrue, and legal action was necessary to counteract misinformation.
In a parallel development, Jagdambika Pal, Chairperson of the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) on the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, and Tejasvi Surya received over 500 petitions from farmers alleging that their lands were being classified as Waqf property without proper legal backing. Farmers from districts including Vijayapura, Bidar, Kalaburgi, and Belagavi have voiced concerns to Pal and Surya.
Surya has accused Karnataka’s Minority Affairs and Waqf Minister Zameer Ahmed Khan of conducting unauthorized “Waqf Adalats” across the state, asserting, “These Waqf Adalats do not have any valid status under the Constitution or Revenue Department rules.” He also highlighted the increasing number of Waqf land claims in Karnataka as the JPC meets to discuss amendments to the Waqf Act of 1995.
