In September 2022, a rude shock awakened the villagers of Thiruchendurai in Thiruchirapalli District of Tamil Nadu. It had come to light that their entire hamlet which also consisted of a 1500-year-old Shiva temple had been declared as the property of the Waqf Board in Tamil Nadu.
What Or Who Is The Waqf Board?
Tamil Nadu Waqf Board is a statutory body established under the Waqf Act 1954 that supervises and manages Waqf institutions and administers Waqf properties.
Waqf properties are those movable and immovable properties, dedicated by a person professing Islam, for any purpose recognised by Muslim law as pious, religious, or charitable.
The Thiruchendurai Village Claim
The matter came to light when a resident, a Rajagopal from Mullikarupur, owning agricultural land in Thiruchendurai village, was denied a ‘No Objection Certificate’ from the Tamil Nadu Waqf Board office in Chennai to sell his land. The land, which he purchased in 1992, is part of the entire village and was claimed by the Waqf Board. The village’s residents were concerned about the Waqf Board’s claim of their lands, as they already had revenue department documents in hand. The issue has been brought to the attention of the District Collector, who has assured to investigate the matter. BJP leader from Trichy, Allur Prakash, questioned the relationship between the Waqf Board and Thiruchendurai Village, citing the Manendiyavalli Sametha Chandrasekhara Swamy temple, which owns 369 acres of land. The Tamil Nadu Government Registration Department officials claimed to have received information that unrelated persons were holding these lands through forged documents.
Waqf Board Assertion Of Ownership
Speaking to newspersons, the Tamil Nadu Waqf Board Chairman Abdul Rahman affirmed that the village was the property of the Waqf Board as also the 1500-year-old temple. He said that to those asking how this is possible, there is nothing wrong with a temple being on the property of the Waqf Board. He said,
“You ask that the temple in the village is more than 1500 years and therefore question how that village place belongs to the Waqf. That is wrong. It is a Waqf property only. The temple in the Waqf property has a historical background of more than 1000 years. No doubt about it. Who said there should not be temples on Waqf land? It is also true that there is definitely a temple in the Waqf land, and the temple may continue to be a temple in the place where the Waqf was done. But all the places around the temple, all the land in the said survey number are duly registered with the government as belonging to Waqf. Therefore, that place belongs to the Waqf Board. The temple at that place is more than 1500 years old. The temple is on the Waqf land. There is nothing wrong with it. Based on the claim filed by the claimants, as per their statement, it is mentioned that this temple, which is located in the Waqf property, is a 1000-year-old temple, it will continue to exist as it is. So it is true that the land belongs to the Waqf and it is also true that the temple that is there is more than 1000 years old. No one should say that there should not be a temple on a Waqf property.”
Taking to X, Indhu Makkal Katchi leader, Arjun Sampath questioned how a Waqf Board could own a property on which a Hindu temple is located.
அந்த இடம் வக்பு இடம்தான் அங்கு உள்ள கோயில் 1500 ஆண்டுகள் பழமையானது! இஸ்லாமியர்களுக்கு சொந்தமான வக்பு நிலத்தில் கோயில் இருக்கக் கூடாது என்பது சரியல்ல!
இந்து தமிழர்களை எப்படியெல்லாம் இளிச்சவாயர்கள் என்று நினைக்கிறார்கள் பாருங்கள்! pic.twitter.com/48Hu7ZpDTh
— Arjun Sampath (@imkarjunsampath) August 22, 2023
It is noteworthy that The News Minute, a Dravidian stockist news outlet, published an article attempting to establish that the Thiruchendurai village belonged to the Tamil Nadu Waqf Board and that the villagers were not the legitimate owners of the land. The article further “legitimised” the claims made by the Waqf Board, that the Waqf Assets Management System of India lists 389.03 acres of land in Thiruchendurai village as belonging to the Waqf Board.
A few weeks ago, the TN Waqf Board had allegedly attempted to seize land belonging to the Arunthathiyar community in Erode.
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