The Lok Sabha passed the Waqf (Amendment) Bill on Wednesday. Participating in discussion, Union home minister Amit Shah said no non-Muslim will be a part of waqf or will be appointed to manage the religious institution.
Drawing a distinction between administration and religious activities, Shah said: "Waqf Act and board came into effect in 1995. All the arguments about the inclusion of non-Muslims are about interference in the waqf. First of all, no non-Muslim would come into the waqf. Understand this clearly... There is neither any provision for the appointment of a non-Muslim to manage the religious institution nor do we intend to introduce any such provision. A rumour is being spread that this Act is aimed at interfering with the religious practices of our Muslim brothers and their donated property. This is being done to intimidate the minorities."
Shah accused the Opposition of intentionally trying to mislead the people. "Where will non-Muslim members be included? In council and waqf board. What would they do? They won't run any religious activity. They would only look after the administration of property donated by someone under waqf law, whether it is being done as per law, whether the property is being used for the intent with which it was donated," Shah added.
"That waqf bill is interference in Muslims' religious matters and properties donated by them is fear-mongering for vote-bank," said Shah adding, "Let me assure you that this government will never bring a law to do votebank politics." The home minister said that this bill would not have been necessitated had amendments to the Waqf Act not been introduced in 2013 - just months before the parliamentary elections. "In 2013, the UPA government made the law extreme overnight for their appeasement politics. What happened then? About 123 VVIP properties in Lutyens' Delhi were handed over to the Delhi Waqf Board. Northern Railway property was given to the waqf board. And now the same people are saying that don't do this book-keeping. This money belongs to the poor Muslims. Not to any rich billionaire."
The waqf, the government maintained, has become a ruse for land-grabbing. Citing examples, Shah said the Karnataka High Court had to stop grabbing of 602 sq km by waqf. "In Tamil Nadu, a 400-year-old temple property was declared as waqf's. Land for a five-star establishment was given to waqf for ₹12,000 a month... Several properties belonging to different religions were declared as waqf property, including Chandra Shekhar Azad Park in Prayagraj," he said.
The amended waqf bill, he said, would be instrumental in stopping this. "This bill will protect property. Like ASI property, tribal land, private property and for waqf, you can only donate private, personal property and not the land of the community (village). This bill will bring transparency," he said. "When amendments to the waqf were introduced in 2013, Lalu Prasad stated that he wanted a strict law and wanted to put those in jail who were stealing. Narendra Modi has fulfilled Lalu Prasad's wishes," the minister said.
Opposition parties including Congress, DMK, Trinamool Congress, Aam Aadmi Party, Shiv Sena (UBT), NCP (SP) and single-member parties opposed the bill. Trinamool Congress MP Kalyan Banerjee said, "The term 'waqf' is not merely an administrative term. It's a sacred concept deeply rooted in Islamic tradition. Why do you want to take this away?" Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Arvind Sawant expressed scepticism over the government's intent and linked the move to upcoming Bihar elections rather than genuine concern for minorities, calling it "Saugat-e-Bill" after "Saugat-e-Modi" in Maharashtra.
Drawing a distinction between administration and religious activities, Shah said: "Waqf Act and board came into effect in 1995. All the arguments about the inclusion of non-Muslims are about interference in the waqf. First of all, no non-Muslim would come into the waqf. Understand this clearly... There is neither any provision for the appointment of a non-Muslim to manage the religious institution nor do we intend to introduce any such provision. A rumour is being spread that this Act is aimed at interfering with the religious practices of our Muslim brothers and their donated property. This is being done to intimidate the minorities."
Shah accused the Opposition of intentionally trying to mislead the people. "Where will non-Muslim members be included? In council and waqf board. What would they do? They won't run any religious activity. They would only look after the administration of property donated by someone under waqf law, whether it is being done as per law, whether the property is being used for the intent with which it was donated," Shah added.
"That waqf bill is interference in Muslims' religious matters and properties donated by them is fear-mongering for vote-bank," said Shah adding, "Let me assure you that this government will never bring a law to do votebank politics." The home minister said that this bill would not have been necessitated had amendments to the Waqf Act not been introduced in 2013 - just months before the parliamentary elections. "In 2013, the UPA government made the law extreme overnight for their appeasement politics. What happened then? About 123 VVIP properties in Lutyens' Delhi were handed over to the Delhi Waqf Board. Northern Railway property was given to the waqf board. And now the same people are saying that don't do this book-keeping. This money belongs to the poor Muslims. Not to any rich billionaire."
The waqf, the government maintained, has become a ruse for land-grabbing. Citing examples, Shah said the Karnataka High Court had to stop grabbing of 602 sq km by waqf. "In Tamil Nadu, a 400-year-old temple property was declared as waqf's. Land for a five-star establishment was given to waqf for ₹12,000 a month... Several properties belonging to different religions were declared as waqf property, including Chandra Shekhar Azad Park in Prayagraj," he said.
The amended waqf bill, he said, would be instrumental in stopping this. "This bill will protect property. Like ASI property, tribal land, private property and for waqf, you can only donate private, personal property and not the land of the community (village). This bill will bring transparency," he said. "When amendments to the waqf were introduced in 2013, Lalu Prasad stated that he wanted a strict law and wanted to put those in jail who were stealing. Narendra Modi has fulfilled Lalu Prasad's wishes," the minister said.
Opposition parties including Congress, DMK, Trinamool Congress, Aam Aadmi Party, Shiv Sena (UBT), NCP (SP) and single-member parties opposed the bill. Trinamool Congress MP Kalyan Banerjee said, "The term 'waqf' is not merely an administrative term. It's a sacred concept deeply rooted in Islamic tradition. Why do you want to take this away?" Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Arvind Sawant expressed scepticism over the government's intent and linked the move to upcoming Bihar elections rather than genuine concern for minorities, calling it "Saugat-e-Bill" after "Saugat-e-Modi" in Maharashtra.
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