BJP’s Muslim Minister heckled over leasing Wakf land for serving liquor

Congress legislators heckled the lone Muslim Minister in Karnataka’s BJP Government Mumtaz Ali Khan over the issue of leasing out Wakf property to a luxury hotel that allowed sale and consumption of liquor in its premises.

During the proceedings of the legislative council on Monday, Khan was responding to uncomfortable question from a Congress legislator on the irregularities pertaining to Wakf property in Bangalore when the issue of leasing out the Wakf building to a five star hotel came up for discussion.

Congress MLC V S Ugrappa sought to know from the Minister the propriety of leasing out Wakf building for a five star hotel that allowed sale and consumption of liquor. “How can the Government allow Wakf land to be leased to a star hotel when the tenets of Islam do not allow serving or consumption of liquor?”, Ugrappa sought to know.

Khan, who found the questions ticklish, urged the Congress members not to put him in a dilemma over the issue of Wakf property. “From Islam’s point of view, it is wrong to lease out Wakf property for sale and consumption of liquor. But, from a legal point of view, the Wakf Board has the right to lease out the property. I cannot go into the details as the issue is delicate”, Khan said.
Earlier, Khan, however, regretted that Wakf property in the heart of Bangalore had been leased to the luxury hotel a couple of years ago for a 99 years lease at a monthly rent of Rs 600,000. Pointing out that Wakf building could easily command a monthly rent of Rs 3.5 million, Khan said he personally favoured exploring legal possibilities for scrapping the agreement.