AIMPLB slams Waqf bill as ‘direct attack on Muslims’; calls for protest at Jantar Mantar on March 17

The All India Muslim Personal Law Board has announced a protest against the Waqf (Amendment) Bill on March 17 at Jantar Mantar in the national capital here to invoke the conscience of “secular” political parties, including those part of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government at the centre.

The ‘dharna’ was to be held on March 13 but has been postponed in view of holidays on account of Holi, and Parliament may also not meet that day, the board’s spokesperson Syed Qasim Rasool Ilyas said at a press conference on Tuesday.

Ilyas also said that many MPs have been invited for the protest.

The AIMPLB is the apex body of Muslim clerics, Rasool said that after careful consideration, the Board has come to the conclusion that the proposed legislation will pave the way for the “usurping” of Waqf properties and it was a “direct attack” on Muslims.

“We expected that our suggestions will be taken into account by the joint committee of Parliament. But neither our opinion was considered nor the amendments proposed by the opposition parties were included,” Ilyas said at a press conference.

The Union Cabinet, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has approved the proposed amendments to the Waqf (Amendment) Bill after incorporating changes recommended by the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC). The approval paves the way for the bill to be tabled in Parliament in the second half of the budget session that began on March 10.

Ilyas said the AIMPLB had facilitated over 3.6 crore responses via emails to suggestions sought by the parliamentary panel.

The bill amounts to “discrimination” as it calls for having non-Muslim members in Waqf boards and councils when no such provision is there in the management of the endowments of Hindus and Sikhs, he said.

The Union Cabinet, it is learnt, has incorporated most of the changes recommended JPC headed by BJP leader Jagdambika Pal. The panel cleared the bill on January 27, adopting all 14 changes proposed by the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led NDA members.

In a statement, AIMPLB general secretary Maulana Fazlur Raheem Mujaddidi and Ilyas said that despite five crore Muslims sending emails to the joint committee against the Bill and extensive representation by the Muslim Personal Law Board, prominent national and state-level Muslim organisations, and key individuals, the government has not only refused to reconsider its stance but has made the bill even “more stringent and controversial”.

In democratic countries, any law or bill is usually discussed with its primary stakeholders before being introduced in the legislature. However, this government has followed an “authoritarian approach” from the very beginning, they said.

“The three farm laws were passed in Parliament without any consultation with farmers. It was only after prolonged and determined protests by farmers that the government was forced to withdraw them,” the statement said, adding the AIMPLB will run a nationwide campaign against the bill.

When the bill faced severe criticism from the opposition parties, a 31-member joint committee was formed, but it, being dominated by ruling party members, made superficial modifications and further tightened the bill, it claimed.

The committee outrightly rejected the well-argued objections and reasonable suggestions from the Muslim community as well as the 44 amendments proposed by opposition members who were part of the committee, the statement said.

The spokesperson further said an AIMPLB delegation had also met JD(U) chief Nitish Kumar and sought his support to which he had a reply similar to Naidu’s.

The AIMPLB urged parties such as TDP, JD(U), RLD and LJP (Ramvilas) to not support the bill as they are expected to think on the lines of the welfare of the minority community. “If they do not do so then we will have to decide our future course of action (vis-a-vis these parties),” Mujaddidi said.

Despite all efforts, the legitimate concerns of the Muslim community have been ignored and the NDA government remains committed to its agenda of “seizing and destroying” Waqf properties, Mujaddidi and Ilyas said.

“It is deeply regrettable that even the NDA’s allied parties, which claim to be secular and justice-loving, are supporting the BJP’s communal agenda despite receiving substantial Muslim votes. The Muslim community views this Waqf Amendment Bill as a direct attack on the community,” the statement said.

The AIMPLB, along with all religious and community-based organizations, and justice-loving citizens across the country, will exercise their democratic and constitutional rights by staging a protest at Jantar Mantar on March 17, it said.

“This demonstration aims to invoke the conscience of secular political parties,” the statement added.

Waqf Amendment Bill 2024

The bill proposes revoking several clauses in the existing Waqf Act, which governs Waqf boards. It also advocates far-reaching changes in the present Act, including ensuring the representation of Muslim women and non-Muslims in central and state Waqf bodies.

The bill gives the district collector powers to resolve disputes about whether a property is Waqf or government land. The Bill seeks to amend the Waqf Act, 1995 and proposes to allow a non-Muslim Chief Executive Officer.

Opponents say these amendments are intended to diminish the ‘arbitrary’ authority of the Waqf Boards. The existing Waqf Act allows the boards to claim any property as Waqf without mandatory verification.