 "Waqf Bill referred to joint committee of Parliament amid Opposition uproar")
The Waqf (Amendment) Bill was introduced in the Lok Sabha on Thursday and referred to a joint parliamentary panel for wider scrutiny after the INDIA bloc parties termed it an “attack” on the Constitution, and aimed at targeting Muslims.
Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla said he will speak to leaders of all parties for constituting the joint committee of parliament.
The Waqf (Amendment) Bill is the first to be referred to a parliamentary committee in the 18th Lok Sabha.
Union Minority Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju, who introduced the Bill, said the proposed amendments will rectify the lacunae in the Waqf Act of 1995 and put a stop to the “capture” of Waqf boards, which have turned into mafias in several cases.
He said one of the proposed amendments is to refer to Waqf as ‘Unified Waqf Management Empowerment Efficiency Development’, or ‘UMEED’, which reflected the government’s intent to reform the system to provide Muslims with justice and welfare.
Rijiju said the proposed amendments provide for challenging the order of a tribunal in higher courts, which wasn’t the case in the Waqf Act of 1995.
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The minister referred to instances, such as the one from Tamil Nadu where an entire village was declared as Waqf land or the Surat Municipal Corporation headquarters declared Waqf property as reasons for reform.
Rijiju also introduced a Bill to repeal the Mussalman Wakf Act, 1923. He said the colonial-era legislation has become obsolete.
The Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2024, provides for ensuring the representation of Muslim women and non-Muslims in Waqf boards.
It has sought to define ‘waqf’ as a person practising Islam for at least five years, who could donate their movable or immovable properties.
It states the creation of Waqf shall not lead to the denial of inheritance rights of heirs, including women heirs, of the waqif.
The Bill seeks to omit Section 40 of the current law relating to the powers of the board to decide if a property is Waqf property. It empowers the district collector to inquire into any cases where a government property is identified or declared as Waqf property.
It provides for a broad-based composition of the Central Waqf Council and state Waqf boards, and proposes to establish separate boards of Auqaf for Bohras and Aghakhanis. It provides for the representation of Shias, Sunnis, Bohras, Aghakhanis, and other backward classes among Muslims.
The Waqf Council will have representation of three MPs and a Union minister. It also elaborates upon ‘welfare’ to mean the maintenance of widows, divorced women, and orphans.
In the Lok Sabha, INDIA bloc MPs opposed the Bill’s provision to include non-Muslims in Waqf boards.
“What is the point of including non-Muslims in Waqf boards when this is not done in other religious bodies?” Samajwadi Party’s Akhilesh Yadav said.
He asserted that the BJP has brought the Bill to appease its hardcore supporters and with an eye on the upcoming Assembly polls.
The All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen chairperson Asaduddin Owaisi claimed that the House did not have the competence to make the amendments. “It is a grave attack on the basic structure of the Constitution as it violates the principle of judicial independence and separation of powers,” he said.
“You are enemies of Muslims and this Bill is evidence of that,” Owaisi said.
However, JD (U) leader and Union minister Rajiv Ranjan Singh ‘Lalan’ assured in the Lok Sabha, and that the Bill was not ‘anti-Muslim’.
“This is not an attempt to interfere with mosques. This law is for the institution, to make it transparent.”
TDP’s G M Harish Balayogi said the Bill was to reform and introduce transparency.
“If wider consultations are required to remove misconceptions and to educate the purpose of the Bill, we have no problem sending it to the select committee,” he added.
Proposed amendments
- Defines Waqf as permanent dedication by any person practising Islam for at least five years- Creation of Waqf shall not lead to denial of inheritance rights of heirs, including women heirs- District collector to inquire into any case where a govt property is identified or declared as Waqf property
- Establishment of separate boards of Auqaf for Bohras and Aghakhanis
- Representation of Muslim women and non-Muslims in Waqf boards
- Representation of Shias, Sunnis, Bohras, Aghakhanis, and other backward classes among Muslims