Opposing Waqf Amendment Bill is akin to refusing to uplift the underprivileged Muslims

While proposing the Waqf Amendment Bill, the Central government stated its intent in detail. But as anticipated, the Congress, Samajwadi Party, Trinamool Congress, DMK and other opposition parties vigorously opposed it. The Opposition’s defiance to the bill only serves to highlight their motive, which is clear from the stance they have adopted to this point.

During the period from 2004 to 2014, i.e., when the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance was in power at the Centre, two committees – Sachar Committee and Joint Parliamentary Committee were appointed to review the upliftment of the Muslim community. Both the committees had identified several flaws in the functioning of the Waqf Boards. The Amendment Bill has been drafted based on the recommendations of these committees only.

Waqf Boards has been benefitting only a small group of people, including the elite, the educated and the miscreants who have been occupying important positions within the Board. However, the other members of the community, who are the underprivileged and illiterate, are still deprived of the benefits of this Board.

Interestingly, many people from the Muslim community across the country have filed complaints and levelled severe accusations regarding the wrongdoings inside the Waqf Boards. Not only have Waqf Board’s land frauds surfaced in Maharashtra, but they also came up in other states as well. The Waqf Amendment Bill was introduced in Parliament under this backdrop. But many well-established groups are speaking against the bill because they feel that it will jeopardize their interests. In fact, it was a few MPs from the Opposition benches who had complained to the government about Waqf Boards turning into a mafia stronghold.

Waqf Boards across states have got engaged in politics. Both, the Sachar Committee and the Joint Parliamentary Committee had made it evident in their findings how these Boards from different states were disregarding the development of the common Muslims. The central government isn’t repealing the existing Waqf Act but is trying to modify some of its provisions through the Amendment Bill.

Waqf Boards have unrestricted authority to designate any property as ‘waqf’ which means ‘donation’. The amendment has refused this unfettered right. It must be noted that the central government had established a committee in 1976 to oversee the Waqf Boards’ management and to keep track of the funds and assets that these Boards had accrued. The committee reviewed the properties that various Waqf Boards owned nationwide. And now the law has been amended in light of this committee’s findings. Verifying the validity of applications to register properties as ‘waqf’ and submitting the results to the Board are mandatory. Currently, the Amendment Bill grants the collector the authority to verify the legitimacy of property registration applications and give a final decision.

The Amendment Bill has a provision to have representation from other religious communities in the central and state Waqf Boards along with the Muslims. Appointment of two women on Waqf Boards has also been made mandatory. According to the provisions of the original Waqf Act of 1955, the decisions made by Waqf Board’s arbitrator (adjudication) could not be challenged in court. The Amendment Bill proposes to abolish this provision, which goes against the basic premise of the Indian Constitution.

Many people have complained about encroachments by the Waqf Board. Numerous grievances have also been brought against this Board’s officers. None of these issues were dealt with at any level. Now, all this arbitrariness of the Waqf Board will come under fire if the Amendment Bill becomes law. The Waqf Board came into being to look into the welfare of the underprivileged and oppressed Muslims, but the affluent members of this community never allowed this expectation to come true.

Waqf Boards had the authority to designate any property as ‘waqf’ under the Waqf Act. A piece of land would be designated as waqf if a Muslim citizen claimed that it was formerly used to offer ‘namaz’ by their ancestors hundreds of years ago. Under this clause, the Surat Municipal Corporation headquarters in Gujarat got designated as waqf. There are similar other instances reported nationwide. Taking cognizance of these complaints and to eliminate the arbitrary management of Waqf Boards, this Amendment Bill has been proposed.

MIM criticized the Amendment Bill saying that the ‘Waqf Board and its property are matters of our religion and that the government must not interfere’. However, not a single representative from the Opposition benches ever questioned as to why Waqf Act came into being when the entire nation is governed by the Indian Constitution. It may be recalled that following the Supreme Court’s decision to award alimony to Shah Bano, a Muslim woman, in 1985, these Muslim ‘thekedars’ had raised an uproar. Giving in to this pressure, the Rajiv Gandhi government at the time amended the fundamental law and took away Muslim women’s right to ask for maintenance. Unfortunately, none of the progressives and intellectuals of the time questioned Rajiv Gandhi government and tried to seek justice for Muslim women.

Waqf Board, which owns more than 8 lakh acres of property nationwide, has been in news lately for a number of unethical acts. The Amendment Bill will not only discipline the Boards but will also benefit the impoverished Muslims. The bill was sure to infuriate the community’s self-proclaimed ‘thekedars’. They were expected to oppose it as this would bring an end to their wrongdoings. The well-established members of the Muslim community do not want the development of the underprivileged and destitute from their community. The nation saw how these well-established individuals teamed up and supported BJP’s opponents during the Lok Sabha elections. And today, the opposition parties including the Congress are against the bill primarily to placate these individuals.

 

(Article Pre-Published in Times of India Online – 12  August 2024)

Keshav Upadhye, Chief Spokesperson