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Karnataka Today newsletter: Tejasvi Surya urges JPC Chairman to visit Vijayapura over Waqf land row, and more

BJP MP Tejasvi Surya has written to Chairperson of Joint Parliamentary Committee on Waqf (Amendment) Bill 2024 Jagdambika Pal to invite farmers from Vijayapura district in Karnataka as witnesses to discuss their land disputes with Waqf Board.

Posting a copy of the letter on X (formerly Twitter), the Lok Sabha member from Bengaluru South, who is also a member of the Committee, recalled his recent meeting with a delegation of farmers from the district “who have been wrongfully served notices claiming their land as Waqf property,” he said. Read his full letter, here.

A team of BJP leaders from Karnataka, including Union Minister Pralhad Joshi and MP Ramesh Jigajinagi, also visited Vijayapura on October 30, to speak to officers and meet farmers. Mr. Joshi alleged that the Congress government in the State was trying to take over the lands of farmers to appease the minorities.

“The Congress government in Karnataka is using the 2013 Waqf Act to do as they please. We are making amendments to the 2013 law and bringing in a new law,” Mr. Joshi said. He said that Waqf adalats being conducted by minister B.Z. Zameer Ahmed Khan in various districts had put unfair pressure on officers to mutate farm lands as Waqf lands, and demanded CM Siddaramaiah to stop them.

In a relief to Kannada actor Darshan, who is an accused in the murder of Renukaswamy, the Karnataka High Court has granted interim bail for six weeks on medical ground to enable the actor to undergo surgery at a hospital of his choice in Bengaluru for his back pain based on the medical reports given by a neurosurgeon of Ballari Medical College and Research Centre (BMCRC), Ballari.

The court directed Darshan to report to the hospital soon after he is released from prison to get himself medically examined. A report from the hospital mentioning the probable date of his surgery, period of admission required for the proposed treatment and follow-up treatment, if any, should be filed within one week from the date of release from the prison, the court stated. He is also restrained from appearing before any media to give any statement on any issue, including his health condition, during the bail.

The Bengaluru-based luxury wellness retreat — Soukya international Holistic Health Centre — is working on expanding its base to Portugal. Holistic health practitioner Issac Mathai, who runs the Centre told The Hindu that King Charles III and Queen Camilla, who left the Centre on October 30, 2024 after a three-day rejuvenation session, were happy with the expansion as it is close to the UK.