The 2024 Waqf Amendment Bill was on Thursday sent to a joint parliamentary committee for scrutiny amid objections from the Opposition after the draft legislation was introduced in the Lok Sabha.
The bill proposed to amend 44 sections of the Waqf Act 1995.
A waqf is a property given for a religious, educational or charitable cause by Muslims. In India, waqfs are governed under the Waqf Act. Each state has a Waqf Board led by a legal entity, who is vested with the power to acquire, hold and transfer a property. The Act was last amended in 2013.
Followings its introduction in the Lower House, several Opposition MPs objected to the bill, calling it “anti-Muslim” and “unconstitutional”.
Congress MP KC Venugopal said that the bill was a “fundamental attack on the Constitution and a draconian law”. The Union government was attacking the faith and the religion of citizens, he alleged.
Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav questioned the decision to include non-Muslims in Waqf Boards, saying that this was not done in other religious bodies, The Indian Express reported. “The truth is that the BJP [Bharatiya Janata Party] has brought this bill to appease its hardcore supporters,” he said.
All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen leader Asaduddin Owaisi claimed that the House was not competent to make amendments to the Act. “You are enemies of Muslims and this bill is evidence of that,” he said.
“It is a grave attack on the basic structure of the Constitution as it violates the principle of judicial independence and separation of powers,” Owaisi added.
Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) MP Supriya Sule said that the bill was against a particular minority community, adding that her party opposed it. She also asked for the bill to be sent to the parliamentary standing committee “for better consultation”, according to NDTV.
“The timing is of concern,” she said. “What happened suddenly in Waqf Board that you have to bring the bill.”
Responding to the objections, Minority Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju said that the bill did not intend to interfere with the freedom of any religious body. He said that no provision of the Constitution had been violated, PTI reported.
Rijiju, who is also the parliamentary affairs minister, said that amendments were planned because the Waqf Act 1995 had not served its purpose.
He said that the bill will be sent to a joint parliamentary committee.
Other features of the proposed amendment include ensuring the verification of land before a board announces it as a Waqf property, and requirements for the funds received by the boards to be used for the welfare of widows, divorcees and orphans as suggested by the government.
On Tuesday, Rijiju said that there was a long-standing demand from “poor Muslim groups” to amend the Waqf Act.
“Several groups have been demanding reforms to the Act,” he said. “Consultation with various groups has been going on for many years.”
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