Court sends Karnataka babus into frantic search for cemetery land

Story by  ATV | Posted by  Aasha Khosa • 1 Years ago
Cemetery (representational image)
Cemetery (representational image)

 

New Delhi

The Karnataka government's revenue department has ordered officials to find land for  Kabristan, burial land of Muslim in 1,428 villages in the state. This move is in response to the Karnataka High Court’s warning that if immediate steps are not taken, theCourt will initiate contempt proceedings against the Principal Secretary of the government.

The Court order has come on a petition filed by Mohammad Iqbal, a resident of Bangalore. The High Court bench headed by Justice B. A Veerappa has issued a stern warning on the issue. According to the revenue department data, there are 29,076 villages in the state. Of these, Muslim cemetery land has been allotted in 27,648 villages and 299 towns.

Land is yet to be given in 1,428 villages and one town in Shivamogga district for Muslim cemetries. The department claims that government land is not available and private owners are not coming forward to sell their land. The government told the court that in each village, there are customs, traditions followed by the local people and it has become very difficult to find land for burial.

Although the government tried to convince the court by giving all these reasons and asking for two years' time, but the court ignored all these pleadings. The Court has noted that despite tee Single Judge Bench ordering allocation of the land to Muslim three years back, no action has been taken.

 The Court had also warned on August 20, 2019, that the principal secretary would be sent to jail after initiating contempt proceedings if the order was not complied with.

On June 9, the division bench had directed to allot land for the graveyard, which was violated by the department.