Explained | Idgah Maidan row: Whose land is it anyway?

The Idgah Maidan at Chamarajpet has been stuck in a land ownership dispute between the BBMP and the Karnataka State Board of Auqaf for over three weeks now

Story so far: The expansive Idgah Maidan, located in the midst of the Chamarajpet, one of the oldest localities in Bengaluru, has been stuck in a land ownership dispute between the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) and the Karnataka State Board of Auqaf for over three weeks now. While the BBMP initially claimed that the maidan is a civic property, Muslim organisations argued that the land was a gazetted wakf property. Pending a resolution, the BBMP had clarified that no official permission would be given for any event on the ground, including those sought by Hindutva organisations to conduct activities on Independence Day.

With no end to the impasse over the embattled playground, a newly floated outfit, Chamarajapet Nagareekara Okkoota Vedike, with an aim to “save the playground”, has called for a Chamarajpet Bandh on July 12 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

The ownership of the Idgah Maidan ran into controversy in June 2022, after a few Hindutva organisations sought permission from the BBMP to hold events on the ground. The right-wing organisations petitioned the civic body seeking permission for all communities to host events at the ground, such as International Yoga Day. Meanwhile, fearing a communal flare-up, the city police requested the civic body to install CCTV cameras around the ground, then believed to be under BBMP ownership, in the event of any untoward incident.

On June 11, civic officials turned up at the Idgah maidan in Chamarajpet with an earthmover and started digging a trench to lay underground cables for CCTV cameras. In the absence of any prior communication, Muslim residents of the area mistook it as an attempt to build a compound wall and objected to the work. As tensions ran high, the civic officials retreated and the BBMP later decided to install CCTV cameras with overhead cables, instead of underground ones.

The 1974 City Survey records show the Idgah Maidan as a playground, with a khata in the name of the BBMP, indicating the land to be a civic property belonging to the city corporation.

Ever since, the civic body claims, it has held possession of the land. In 2006, the corporation also built a building, a public toilet, on the land. According to the BBMP, there has been no objection raised to either the entry in the city survey, its possession of the land or the building of a public toilet there. However, there have been allegations of BBMP khata records being tampered with.

The BBMP argues that the Karnataka State Board of Auqaf should have represented themselves during the 1974 City Survey and recorded their ownership of the land, or come forward with their claim even at a later date and got the khata transferred in their name, which has not been done.