Waqf Board changes or disempowerment  

Waqf

Muslims currently represent 5% of the 15% of the population in the Indian Parliament, 16 out of 265 judges in the Supreme Court and less than 250 out of 11,500 officers in the administration, which, according to most survey reports, has reduced during the BJP’s rule since the party took reigns of power in the country.

The Waqf Board, a crucial religious institution under the Muslim Personal Law, with a rich historical significance, currently represents the interests of Muslims. Its role has gained significant attention with the BJP government’s proposed amendments to the Waqf Act.

Under the Indian Waqf Act 1995, the Waqf Board maintains Islamic Auqaf or religious properties, constitutes the Central and State Waqf Boards for different regions, and manages the treasury, registration, and survey work to further the welfare net around Muslim properties.

The Waqf Board oversees a staggering 9.4 lakh acres of land, on which approximately 9 lakh properties are built. According to its reports, its total value is estimated at a substantial 1.2 lakh crores, underscoring the significant stakes involved in the proposed amendments.

With thirty authorized Waqf Boards in India, resolving property and other disputes is a pressing issue. Currently, about forty-one thousand cases are registered with the Waqf Tribunal, highlighting the scale and complexity of the problem that needs immediate attention.

Some Muslim organizations have raised concerns about the Waqf Board’s handling of property disputes, which have remained unresolved in the tribunal for decades. There have also been allegations of mismanagement and misappropriation of Waqf properties, with no satisfactory response from the Board. The Board’s appointments and operations have also sparked controversy among Muslims despite its claim to protect their properties and religious institutions.

The BJP and those in unison with Hindutva ideology believe that the establishment of the Waqf gives special concessions to followers of one religion that is in contravention of the Indian constitution. The accusations against the Waqf Board are that it has thousands of acres of unregistered land, including the land of those who migrated to Pakistan after the partition of the subcontinent in 1947, which is controlled only by Muslims.  Attempts are made to resolve property disputes internally instead of in the courts, raising eyebrows about the transparency of the board.

In this context, the BJP introduced the Waqf Amendment Bill to Parliament last year. This bill, if passed, could significantly alter the functioning and authority of the Waqf Board, potentially affecting the management and ownership of Muslim properties.

The opposition alliance, led by the Indian National Congress, created a ruckus in Parliament and demanded that the Waqf Amendment Bill be referred to a joint committee for scrutiny. They raised concerns about the potential impact of the bill on the Muslim community and the transparency of the committee’s proceedings.

The BJP government does not currently have a two-thirds majority to proceed, so a joint committee of Parliament was formed at the opposition’s request. However, the inclusion of eleven opposition members in the 31-member body was seen as a strategic move by the BJP to maintain its dominance when voting, raising questions about the committee’s impartiality.

After 36 debates in the JPC since August last year, the head of the parliamentary committee, Jag Dambikka Pal, announced that twenty-five amendments had been approved on the committee’s recommendations and submitted an amended act to the speaker of the Parliament. The opposition leaders objected to the head of the JPC. They revealed in a press conference that they were not allowed to speak, raise an issue, or give advice to the committee. The BJP, after getting the votes of its members, prepared a report.  It was alleged that the report consisting of more than five hundred pages was not given to read, which will be passed as an amended bill during the current session of Parliament.

The head of the JP committee gloated that he had prepared the report after consulting representatives of twenty-five Waqf Boards and fifteen states. The report also included the public’s opinions, which, according to the head of JPC, were formulated after reading ninety-three lakh emails.

Many amendments were proposed to the act, among which a few need to be mentioned here.

The First Amendment concerns Muslim property, which the government says is not in use but is under the control of the Waqf Board. A proposal to place that property under government control was made. Muslim scholars blamed that the BJP wanted to seize our religious property. The amendment to this clause could not go through and was dropped at this stage.

However, the parliamentary committee recommended that unregistered properties be registered before the Waqf Amendment Act. After this amendment bill is passed, the Waqf Board will have to publicly register all used or unused properties and put their complete records on its website within six months so that no objection can be raised to their transparency.

The BJP parliamentarians have asked to establish separate Waqf boards for the Aga Khani and Bohra communities, but some opposition members rejected the proposal outrightly. Muslim clerics considered this BJP’s attempt to further divide the Muslims into different sects and groups to keep its hold by enticing them.

After objections from Muslims, the suggestion was rejected that in case of any property dispute, the district collector would be included in the investigation team from the government. Opposition members raised the point that the involvement of a government official in the dispute and playing a neutral role will always become controversial.

An amendment to appoint a non-Muslim member to the Waqf Board has been approved. Now, the two top members will be one Muslim and one non-Muslim. Muslim scholars believe that this has fulfilled the BJP’s long-standing dream of eliminating the Muslim institution’s identity and gaining access to its records and assets.

Eleven opposition members of JPC called the formation and then the committee amendments a joke, saying that the BJP chairperson brought amendments and recommendations of his own accord. The members have notified the Speaker of Parliament about their displeasure and have refused to accept the amendments.

Trinamool Congress MP Kalyan Banerjee said the committee did not give us any documents. ‘We requested a discussion on each clause or section of the proposed document. The chairman rejected it without providing any justification for it. He voted and made his party parliamentarians vote, which amounts to the death of democracy in India.

Many opposition members were removed from the committee after the opposition created a ruckus.

Mirwaiz of Kashmir( religious preacher) and Hurriyat leader Mirwaiz Umar Farooq also attended the Waqf Board meeting but was not given a chance to speak, on which the BJP accused the Congress of stopping Mirwaiz from speaking. Mirwaiz met other Indian religious leaders to oppose the amendments and pledged to establish a united front against it.

Meanwhile, to everybody’s surprise, Mirwaiz Umer Farooq and ruling party JK National Conference MP Agha Ruhullah met in Delhi. The meeting and the news of the Waqf Board launching an organised movement against the bill went viral on social media, raising questions about MP Ruhullah’s confrontational stand against his party politics. Until now, NC has played a mute silence against the BJP’s anti-minority policies, especially on the Waqf Act amendment bill, which is in contravention to the policy adopted by its member Parliament.

All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul-Muslimeen leader and MP Asaduddin Owaisi, while reacting on the amendment, said, ‘The Modi government’s aim is not to save Waqf board but to abolish Waqf, seize Muslim properties and disenfranchise them. With the amendments, this government is bent on grabbing our religious properties’.

‘BJP wants Muslims disempowered from the affairs of the state and impose Hindutva on us. We condemn it and reject these amendments’. He further retorted.  

Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and former Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah have, as usual, distanced themselves from the opposition alliance by making cautious recent statements on the Waqf Amendments and declaring them the responsibility of the BJP government. On the contrary, the party’s MP, Agha Rohullah, and Muslim scholars actively participated in the campaign against it.


The Waqf Amendment Bill will be presented in Parliament in the next few days before the Delhi elections so that the BJP can earn Hindu votes in the Delhi Assembly elections by baking its bread. However, defeating Arvind Kejriwal’s AAP in Delhi is a big challenge not only for the BJP but also for the Congress, which is leaving no stone unturned to win minority votes. And the minorities seem helpless in the milieu of the Hindutva wave.

Nayeema Ahmad Mahjoor is an Author and Senior Journalist

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