Ahmedabad: The Gujarat State Waqf Board has initiated an investigation into the alleged “unauthorised occupation of land” belonging to the Siddi Bashir Mosque Waqf. According to official documents issued by the waqf board, “the Siddi Bashir Masjid is a registered waqf institution. Records in the waqf register (PTR), specifically Columns 10-15, indicate that the waqf owns land bearing Survey Numbers 691 to 699 and 699/1 to 699/6 in Ahmedabad district.” Nearly 3,000 sq yards associated with the Siddi Bashir Mosque were documented through a waqf gazette notification from 1947-48.
“The properties in question are situated within the area of the ‘Jhulta Minars’ (shaking minarets), which is a protected monument,” said a senior board official.
“The waqf board received information suggesting that unauthorised factories and shops occupied this land,” added the board official. Officials from the board, R B Sumra and M A Pathan, have been authorised to carry out the site investigation. The board instructed the mutawallis (caretakers) concerned of the masjid to fully cooperate with investigating officers.