Opposition leaders have slammed Prime Minister Narendra Modi over his recent remarks that young Muslims wouldn’t need to repair cycle punctures for a livelihood if Waqf properties had been used sincerely for the community’s welfare.
The leaders criticised the language used by PM Modi while asking what the prime minister has done for poor Hindus and Muslims all these years.
“Modi said that if the Waqf properties were used properly, Muslim youth would not have to repair punctures. If the thinking and property of the Sangh Parivar were used in the interest of the country, Modi would not have to sell tea. What has Modi done for poor Indians – Hindus or Muslims – in the last 11 years?” asked AIMIM chief and Hyderabad MP, Asaduddin Owaisi.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, while addressing a rally in Hisar, Haryana, on April 14, said that misuse of Waqf land in the past pushed young Muslims into fixing cycle puncture jobs. Modi’s remark basically backed the recent amendment to the laws governing the management of Waqf properties across the country.
“33 per cent of Indians are living without jobs and education. One of the major reasons for what has happened with Waqf properties is that the law and administration of Waqf was always kept weak. Modi’s Waqf amendment will weaken it even more,” Owaisi said in a post on X.
Modi’s remark came less than a week after the Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025, came into force. The Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha passed the bill during the recently concluded Budget Session of Parliament. President Droupadi Murmu gave her assent to the proposed law on April 5.
“Language like ‘Muslims fix punctures’ is used by social media trolls. If the Prime Minister is using such superficial language, then he is insulting the dignity of the post,” Congress leader and Rajya Sabha Member of Parliament Imran Pratapgarhi said.
“You are saying you want to do good for Muslims through the Waqf Law, but you don’t have one Muslim MP to present it in the Lok Sabha. You talk about the rights of Muslim women. You don’t have a Muslim woman member in Lok Sabha or Rajya Sabha or any state Assembly,” Pratapgarhi said.
The new law amended the Waqf Act, 1995, which governed the management and supervision of Waqf properties in India. The amendment introduces changes related to record maintenance, dispute resolution, and oversight mechanisms concerning Waqf properties.
Puncture-wallah jibe
Puncture-wallah (people who fix punctures) is a derogatory reference used against Muslims, mostly by BJP leaders. In 2019, Tejasvi Surya, the BJP MP drew criticism after he said that only “puncture-wallahs and illiterates” were protesting against the CAA and the proposed National Register of Citizens (NRC).
Taking a jibe at Surya’s “puncture-wala” comment, Hyderabad MP and AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi had then said that eventually, the BJP’s tyres are also going to be punctured.
Language like ‘Muslims fix punctures’ is used by social media trolls. If the Prime Minister is using such superficial language, then he is insulting the dignity of the post.
“If somebody is a puncture-wala, what is wrong in that? They repair punctured tyres in the sun and rain. He could be a crorepati. How will he know what is the value of a puncture-wala?” Owaisi had said.