First in 75 years: Tricolour hoisted, Independence Day celebrated at Bengaluru Idgah Maidan

The Tricolour was unfurled at the venue by Karnataka Revenue Department’s Assistant Commissioner MG Shivanna after the state government named it the default owner of the land.

Celebrations

The hoisting of the national flag was followed by the singing of the National Anthem, “Bharat Mata Ki Jai” chants, and Naada Geethe — a poem officially recognised as the state song of Karnataka.

Cultural programmes and patriotic songs, performed by the students of the Chamarjpet Government School, reverberated through the area from the Idgah Maidan for the first time since independence.

Expressing pleasure over the celebrations, four-time Chamrajpet MLA BZ Zameer Ahmed Khan told reporters that Republic Day and Kannada Rajyothsava — the Karnataka Formation Day, celebrated on 1 November — would also take place at the Idgah Maidan on similar lines.

Earlier, several religious outfits declared that they would hoist the national flag at the Idgah Maidan on Independence Day, after which the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) — the city’s municipal body — announced that the Karnataka government’s Revenue Department was the default owner of the land.

Ownership contested

The decades-old dispute over Idgah Maidan came to the fore earlier this year when some Hindu groups sought permission of celebrating events to hold events at the place.

few Hindu groups in June this year claimed the Maidan to be a playground and demanded demolition of tower inside. (South First/Saurav Kumar)

“The Idgah tower covers approximately 100 square feet of area and it will cause inconvenience to the public during gatherings. We have sought permission to celebrate the Ganesh Chaturthi and Navratri festivals on the ground. We demand that the tower be demolished as it is an illegal structure on the ground,” Hindu Janajagruti Samiti state spokesperson Mohan Gowda told South First.

Subsequently, the Karnataka State Board of Auqaf (KSBA) presented a 1965 Supreme Court order and a gazette claiming the land as Wakf property, while the 1974 City Survey records and all other civic records with the BBMP showed the land to be a playground.

Last week, the BBMP dismissed the petition filed by the KSBA, which tabled a “khata“ (a document claiming the ownership of a property) in its favour and declared the Karnataka government’s Revenue Department as the de-facto owner of the land.