Waqf Amendment Bill: Continuing misinformation

The opposition to the Waqf Amendment Bill has apparently been taken up at the mass level, as was witnessed at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi on Monday. In addition to the large-scale participation of Muslim organisations in the protest organised by the All India Muslim Personal Law Board, prominent leaders of opposition political parties like Congress, Trinamool Congress, Aam Aadmi Party, Samajwadi Party, CPM, CPI, NCP, AIMIM, Indian Union Muslim League, and INL also participated. The protest wa successful in sending a strong message to to the BJP government, as indicated by its response to the event. The bill, introduced in Parliament last August, was sent for scrutiny by a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) of 31 members in which the NDA has a clear upper hand and is headed by BJP MP Jagdambika Pal. The JPC discussions were marked by the ruling party's unilateral approach and its eagerness to make it seem as if the bill had been discussed. Finally, the dissenting opinions of the opposition members were only partially included in the 14 amendments included by the ruling party and were presented before the Lok Sabha on January 30.

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Soon on the release of the bill's draft, it was met with opposition from all corners of the Muslim community. Most political parties and prominent secular advocates also expressed sympathy for it. Since the overall aim of the bill was to harm the assets and property rights of the Muslim community and to interfere with religious freedom, there was a demand at Jantar Mantar to withdraw the bill. BJP allies and other secular parties, the Telugu Desam Party in Andhra Pradesh and Nitish Kumar's Janata Dal (United) in Bihar, initially shared the dissenting view, eventually bowed to the call of power of the Centre and dropped their objections.

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The content of the bill is enough to be opposed to the point of being completely rejected. Its evil intent can be seen right from the eligibility set for those who make waqf. While any Muslim has the religious right to dedicate a waqf, which is a gift in the path of God, the bill lays down that those who have recently embraced Islam can do so only after five years. The bill removes the protection for waqf properties that have become waqf through use. If the decision of the waqf tribunals, which are currently responsible for resolving disputes over waqf properties, is final, the new bill allows anyone to approach the High Court against it. The tribunals will now have only two members instead of the existing three, one district collector and another an officer not below the level of joint secretary. It is not mandatory that they be Muslims. The most important requirement is inclusion of non-Muslim members in the Central Waqf Council, State Waqf Boards, and Waqf Tribunals. This is when there is no requirement for members of other religions to be in the governing bodies of religious institutions of other religions. The Sangh Parivar and government supporters are making extensive efforts to mislead the people by creating false narratives with the support of pliant media as if the current Waqf Act is a means to seize the properties of others. Another propaganda is through implication that committees consisting of only Muslims cannot protect Waqf properties. In addition to this, when the narrative is added that this is intended to ensure efficiency, it carries an undertone that Muslims alone are not upto it. The reform that should naturally take place in the cyber age, such as the requirement of date about Waqf properties will be fed into a digital record in a centralised system, and new properties will be uploaded to this database, is touted as a revolutionary reform in the new bill. The same is true for women's representation. The 1995 Act itself stipulates that all members of the Central Waqf Council must be Muslims, and two of them must be women. In addition, the new bill gives the central government extensive powers to make rules.

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It is clear that the Sangh Parivar government is aiming for a law that completely discredits the existing waqf system and abolishes the right to self-governance of the Muslim community. That is why critics of the bill are asking whether the Centre will be ready to make a law that includes non-Sikhs in the governing bodies of gurdwaras or non-Hindus in temple committees. The right to run religious institutions is ingrained of the freedom of religion guaranteed by the Constitution. The government is trying to mislead the people by hiding the fact that it is interfering with it, using the pro-government media, and its own platforms. It is time to be aware of the evil motive behind this and stand united to resist it. Let the Jantar Mantar protest be the beginning of that.

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