Hyderabad, November 16: Keeping with a recent high court directive, officials of the Andhra Pradesh Wakf Board along with representatives of Archaeological Survey of India ( ASI-Hyderabad) and state revenue department met the Hyderabad joint collector on Tuesday to ascertain wakf’s share within the Naya Qila area.
The court order issued on November 2 had directed these government bodies to carry out demarcation of the Mustafa Khan mosque and the graveyard surrounding it, before the Hyderabad Golf Association (HGA) could go ahead with their project there. The final report will be submitted before the HC by the joint collector, Yogita Rana, on Wednesday.
Following Tuesday’s meeting, roughly 1,650 square metres of land (area of the mosque) was identified as Wakf Board’s share in the Naya Qila. The graveyard, which the board has maintained falls under their purview, was declared as government land. “Even we agree it is government land. But these are graves of illustrious people from the community.
And any such land used for religious purposes becomes wakf property,” argued Syed Shabbar Basha, protection officer of the state board, clearly disgruntled with the joint collector’s decision. Basha said that the board would still fight for its entire share 28 acres and 11 guntas in court.
ASI officials, however, think that the demarcation is accurate considering that the board has supporting documents of only 1,650 sq mts of land.
-TOI