Several mainstream media channels and websites have been carrying out a propaganda campaign claiming that the Delhi Minorities Commission (DMC) and the Delhi Waqf Board (DWB) want to grab Hindu temple land.
This propaganda is an attempt to derail the current discussion on Waqf. This campaign falsely claims that the DWB has demanded the land of some Hindu temples, and the DMC has made suggestions on the same. The fact is that neither DMC nor DWB ever suggested or demanded that temples built on Waqf land be demolished or the land be returned to the DWB.
The 2019 DMC report on some West Delhi mosques was prepared to examine the claim of the then Bharatiya Janata Party MP Parvesh Verma that “illegal” mosques have been built in his parliamentary constituency and that such mosques should be demolished.
Verma had sent his complaint to the Delhi Lieutenant Governor in June 2019 claiming that 54 “illegal” mosques have cropped up in his constituency (West Delhi) during the last 20 years. He demanded “action” be taken against these mosques. When no action was taken, Verma re-sent his complaint to the L-G the next month.
On the publication of reports in the media about Verma’s notes to the L-G, as the then chairman of the DMC, I formed a five-member committee consisting of two Muslims, two Christians and a Sikh. All of them were reputed members of society and were active in the fields of legal and human rights. The committee inspected all the mosques on the list provided by Verma, inspected their papers and finally presented a detailed report to the Commission, saying that none of these mosques are illegal; some of them were centuries-old and thus protected as ancient monuments.
At the same time, the Committee came across a number of illegal temples found in the vicinity of the so-called “illegal” mosques and at times built on the same plot of land as the mosques. In its report, the Committee mentioned these temples along with their locations and photographs.
Copies of the said DMC report were sent to the L-G, the Delhi chief minister and even to Parvesh Verma. The report was also released to the media in a press conference. Since then, Verma has not raised that issue.
Now, after five years, a news channel has suddenly remembered that report but in a wrong context. The channel presented this report claiming that the DWB wants to grab temple land, while the report only passingly mentioned that some temples in the vicinity of the so-called “illegal” mosques stood on Waqf land.
Also read: Understanding the Waqf Amendment Bill 2024
Our committee had inspected each and every mosque on Verma’s list and found that no mosque in the list was “illegal”. All were legal while some were centuries-old. During its visits, the Committee came across illegal temples found in the area and discovered that some of them were built on Waqf land. The Committee registered this fact in its report but did not make any demand on the said land of the illegal temples. The DWB, too, did not stake any claim on such land.
The propaganda aired by the mainstream media channel is thus entirely concocted. This campaign obscures the real purpose and findings of the said report. It is an attempt to misdirect the current discussion on the Waqf issue and pave the way to drastic changes in the Waqf law as planned by the Modi government.
A few days ago, a reporter of the same channel phoned me saying that the next day they were going to be holding a panel discussion on the issue on their channel. He wanted me to participate in the said discussion. I apologised, saying that for the last four-and-a-half years I have not spoken to mainstream media due to my bitter experience with it, about its deep bias and lies. The channel representative apologised and ended the call.
The next day a reporter of the Urdu section of the same channel phoned me for an interview. I repeated what I told earlier to his colleague. He assured me that this wing is different and that my interview will be carried in full with no cuts. I accepted. He came in the evening and recorded a long interview with me in which I explained the gist, circumstances and result of the DMC report and how it is being twisted now. I also gave him a printed copy of the said DMC report. That interview was not carried that night. Upon my enquiry, the reporter told me that the interview will be carried next day. On the following day, main channel assembled six persons including three saffron-clad Hindutva thinkers. The panel included an advocate who was a member of the said DMC committee. He tried to explain the issue but was not allowed by the anchor to complete his explanation while time was amply given to others including a saffron-clad sadhu who announced, “If you take the land of one temple, we will take 10 mosques!”
Later, a reporter of a Hindi newspaper called me on the same issue. I ended the call when, instead of listening to me, he kept repeating his understanding of the issue, which was on the mainstream media’s lines.
Mainstream media are not after the truth.
Zafarul-Islam Khan is a former Chairman, Delhi Minorities Commission.
