Dargah land: Wakf Board yet to demand for compensation

Ten years have passed, but the Telangana State Wakf Board is still planning to fight for compensation for the prime land endowed with the Dargah Pahadishareef which the government handed over to the GMR Company for the Airport and other installations.

According to the Board, the then united Andhra Pradesh government had handed over 1,062 acres out of the 2,131 acres of land endowed with the board to the GMR Company in 2008 for the development of the airport.

After a protest by the AIMIM floor leader Akbaruddin Owaisi, a high-level meeting was held and the Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy government gave 85 acres of undisputed land — 50 acres at the Dargah and another 35 acres in Hayathnagar mandal — to the board.

The government claimed that it had acquired about 2,000 acres of land from the Nizam in 1956. “There are no such records to substantiate the government's claim. At least there should be some details of monitory transactions,” said former MLC Syed Altaf Hyder Razvi.

Last year, TS Wakf Board chairman Mohammed Saleem had said the board would file a case in the court against the companies who had taken over the land. The Nizam Trust too has filed a case against the companies, he said. "So far, nothing has happened on that front. Neither any work has been taken up on the allotted land, nor any effort is being made to seek more compensation for the property," said Wakf Protection Society, Osman Al Hajri.

While the TS Wakf Board is trying to seek compensation for the 2,000 acres of land already taken over by the government, encroachers have reportedly occupied around 50 acres. Some persons, who claim to have legal documents for the land, are even selling it.

TS Wakf Board chairman Mohd Saleem said the board was planning to conduct an inspection on Wednesday at the Dargah and its adjoining areas along with the revenue and police department staff.

Mr Najaf Ali Khan, president of the Nizam Family Welfare Association, said there is no document with the government to prove that the land was acquired from the Nizam. “The last Nizam had done a lot for the Dargah including construction of the steps to the shrine located on the hilltop and a rest house for visitors,” he said.