Islamic News

• Govt must withdraw Waqf Amendment Bill

  as it is a big conspiracy to usurp waqf properties.

  
  

  New Delhi, 22 August 2024

  The All India Muslim Personal Law Board and all major Muslim organizations and institutions termed the new proposed Waqf Amendment Bill in the Lok Sabha as a heinous conspiracy to usurp and destroy the Waqf properties in the name of Waqf protection and transparency and urged upon the Govt to desist from it and withdraw the bill at the earliest.

  The proposed bill not only tampers with the definition of waqf, the status of custodians and the powers of waqf boards, but for the first time in the name of increasing the number of members of the Central Waqf Council and the Waqf Board, it has also made non-Muslims representation mandatory. 

  Earlier, the Central Waqf Council could have one non-Muslim member, in the proposed bill the number can be up to 13, of which two are mandatory. Similarly, in the Waqf Board, earlier only the chairperson could be a non-Muslim, but in the proposed bill, this number can go up to 7, of which two are mandatory. This proposal is in direct conflict with Article 26 of the Constitution, which empowers minorities not only to establish their own religious and cultural institutions , but also to administer them according to their choice. 

  However it is mandatory for the management and maintenance of Hindu endowments that its members and trustees adhere to the Hindu faith - similarly, the members of the Gurudwara Parbandhak Committee must also be from the Sikh community and this discrimination and targeting Muslims is unconstitutional and illegal and calls for strong criticism.

  Similarly, in the Waqf act members of the Waqf Boards are elected but in the proposed bill they have to be nominated. Similarly, the proposed bill has removed the requirement of being a Muslim for the CEO of the Waqf Board. Under the existing Waqf Act, the state government could nominate one of the two persons recommended by the Waqf Board, who should not be below the rank of Deputy Secretary, but now the condition of being recommended by the Waqf Board has been removed and he/she can be below the rank of Joint Secretary. 

  These amendments clearly curtail the powers of the Central Waqf Council and Waqf Boards and pave way for government intervention.

  The proposed amendment bill also has provisions for the government to takeover waqf properties - if a Waqf property is claiming /occupied by the government, then the authority to decide its  nature rest with the collector. If the decision is in favour of government,  the collector will get the revenue records corrected and then government will ask the waqf board to delete the property from its records.

  In  prevailing act if there is any dispute on the waqf property, the authority to settle the dispute rests with the waqf board, which in turn could 

  appeal to waqf tribunal to settle it. Now in the proposed bill this authority is handed over to the collector. In the existing Waqf Act any dispute had to be brought before the Waqf Tribunal within one year, after which no dispute would be heard. Now this condition has also been removed. The proposed bill has given arbitrary powers to the collector and the administration. When the administration is regularly razing the Muslim buildings by bulldozer on mere allegations one can easily guess what will be their attitude to waqf properties - 

  In the proposed Bill, Section 40 of the Waqf Act, 1995 has been arbitrarily deleted in its entirety. This section lays down the scope, limits and authority of the Waqf Board, under which the Waqf 

  Registration, status of waqf properties, etc. are decided - all these powers have now been handed over to the Collector. Similarly, the authority of the Waqf Board to nominate the Survey Commissioner has also been abolished - this responsibility has also been shifted to the Collector in the proposed Bill. 

  Waqf by user which has an important place in Islamic law, which was also recognized by the Waqf Act 1995 is now removed from the proposed bill. It provides that long use of a property (such as Mosque, Dargah, or Qabristan) as a waqf i.e. for religious and charitable purpose would establish the dedication of the property as a Waqf.  Removal of waqf by user not only violets the principles of wakf but shall exacerbate communal claims over mosques and other waqfs. Thereby, a Masjid, Madrasa, Dargah and/or Qabristan existing for centuries but not recorded as sych in revenue records will be open to litigation and illegal usurpation by State Authorities.

  The proposed bill imposes a ridiculous condition that only a person practicing Islam for at least five years can creat waqf.  This goes against basic ethics and the spirit of the Indian Constitution. Faith is immaterial as to the creation of Waqf. However while boasting mandatory inclusion of non- Muslims members in the Central Waqf Council and Waqf Boards, the bill makes faith, that too if atleast five years, as a mandatory marker for creation of waqf. 

  There is one more contradiction isvtherevin the bill that is it prohabits non-Muslims from dedicating his/her property as a waqf.

  It is important to clarify here that waqf properties are not the property of the government, rather they are the personal property of Muslims that they have presented to Allah Almighty for religious and charitable purposes, waqf boards and trustees are only regulatar.

  All India Muslim Personnel Board, Jamiat Ulema Hind, Jamiat-e-Islami Hind, Jamiat Ahl Hadith and all religious and national organizations and the Muslim community at large knows and understand that this is a playful act of Central Government. On the face of it, the proposed amendments are arbitrary and violative of Articles 25, 26, 29 and 14 of the Constitution of India. On the contrary the Government is prijecting these issues in a very innocent manner portraying as if it is beneficial to the community at large. We totally reject the bill, which has been brought to destroy the waqf properties and pave the way for their encroachment.  We strongly demand the government to withdraw it immediately - We also appeal to the secular political parties in the NDA and all opposition parties, never to allow this bill passed by Parliament.

  We will take all legal and democratic means alongwith other minorities and all fair-minded people of the country to persuade the government not to press the bill in the Parliament.

  
  

  Addressed by

  Ml Khalid Saifullah Rahmani,  President All India Muslim Personal Law Board

  
  

  Ml Arshad Madni,  President Jamiat Ulama i Hind and Vice President AIMPLB

  
  

  Jb. Syed Sadatullah Husaini,  Ameer Jamaat e Islami Hind & Vice President AIMPLB

  
  

  Ml Asghar Ali Imam Mehdi Salfi, Ameer, Markazi Jamiat Ahle Hadith & VP AIMPLB

  
  

  Ml Mohd. Fazlur Rahim Mujaddidi, General Secretary All India Muslim Personal Law Board

  
  

  Dr. S. Q. R. Ilyas,  Spokeperson All India Muslim Personal Law Board

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