Hubballi: The Karnataka Waqf Board has laid claim to at least 53 historic sites across the state, including prominent monuments like Gol Gumbad, Ibrahim Rauza, and Bara Kaman in Vijayapura, as well as forts in Bidar and Kalaburagi.

Among these, 43 monuments in Vijayapura, once the capital of the Adil Shahi dynasty, were recognized as Waqf properties by the Waqf Board in 2005. However, reports indicate many of these sites have faced encroachment and unauthorized modifications.

According to information obtained through an RTI request by Deccan Herald, the Waqf Board declared these 43 centrally protected monuments in Vijayapura as Waqf properties by utilizing the Record of Rights (ROR) or PR cards, documents that assert ownership. The RTI response from the Union government noted that, while the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) manages the monuments, the Waqf Board assumed encumbrance rights without ASI consultation.

Records indicate that in 2005, Mohammad Mohsin, then Principal Secretary of the Health and Family Welfare Department and Chairman of the Waqf Board in Vijayapura, designated these sites as Waqf properties. Mohsin explained, “I acted in accordance with the government’s gazette notification and valid evidence.”

Many of these sites were originally declared monuments of national significance by British authorities on November 12, 1914. Under the AMASR Act of 1958, ASI retains exclusive authority over maintenance and conservation, with no legal provision allowing for a transfer of ownership.

The Waqf Board’s current claim also extends to several sites within ASI’s Hampi and Bengaluru circles, as well as the Masjid-i-Ala in Srirangapatna. The ASI's Dharwad circle, responsible for Vijayapura’s monuments, has yet to provide a full list of additional sites under claim.

Sources within ASI report that nearly all 43 Vijayapura monuments have suffered encroachment, unauthorized repairs, and defacement. Alterations such as cement plastering, installation of fans and air conditioners, and addition of commercial structures have impacted these sites, with parts of some properties, like Mulla Mosque and Yakub Dabuli’s Mosque, repurposed as a madrasa. These actions, ASI officials say, detract from the historical and architectural integrity of these sites, potentially harming tourism.

Since 2007, the Ministry of Culture has repeatedly urged local authorities, including the Vijayapura Deputy Commissioner and the Karnataka Chief Secretary, to address encroachments. However, the ASI has reported that neither the Waqf Board nor the Vijayapura DC office has provided documentation substantiating Waqf ownership, despite a joint survey conducted in 2012.

Senior ASI officials, adhering to directives not to publicly address the matter, reaffirmed that the ownership of centrally protected monuments under the AMASR Act remains legally fixed and cannot be modified or transferred.