Thread by @thehawkeyex

SC stays #HaldwaniEncroachment eviction. Said, thousands of ppl can’t be uprooted overnight.

On the data side, Waqf Board has 8.5L reg, covering 8L acres of land in India.

UK Waqf alone has 6825 reg properties. Surprisingly, one-third of them are only in Haridwar...

1/

..where the religious demography (H=64%; M=34%) is completely opposite at this Hindu prilimage town. Same goes for Dehradun.

Interestingly, the minority affairs ministry has a scheme Shahari Waqf Sampatti Vikas Yojana (SWSVY).

2/

The entire objective of Waqf assets and that of SWSVY is to perform welfare activities, besides the religious aspect of it.

"Waqfs are instruments of social good as the benefits accrue to the needy in social-economic fields"

3/

As far as the encroachment & claim of the railway is concerned, accountability must be set for all who allowed this human-habitat for decades.

Even the tenant residing in a house for 10yrs develops feelings of ownership & reluctant to vacate when the real owner requests so.
4/

As SC observed the concern of mothers, infants in laps & Madrasa-going teens, where wud they go overnight? The Waqf board is an institution for such a time of need only. Otherwise what purpose do assets worth billions serve if they can't be used for the needy in such winters.
5/

Ironically, one of the objective of the SWSVY is to protect Waqf land from encroaches!!

So Im sure it will work other way around as well for the sake of community on the moral ground.

6/