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Journalism of Courage
Minister of State for Minority Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said Wednesday that chanting “Bharat Mata ki Jai” should not be a “fashion”, but a “passion” for every Indian.
Speaking at the National Conference of Chairmen and Chief Executive Officers of State Waqf Boards, he said: “Patriotism is the first duty of every religion. There is no need to distribute certificates of nationalism and secularism. Nationalism is in the DNA of every true Indian. But it is a matter of concern if there is any baseless debate on patriotism and nationalism… Patriotism is not a part of compulsion, it’s a part of passion.”
Earlier, Minority Affairs Minister Najma Heptulla said she would recommend dissolution of state Waqf boards that do not perform.
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“If any Waqf board is not performing, I will recommend its dissolution. I will ask Chief Ministers to form new Waqf boards… It should be noted that the Survey of Auqaf was not completed in any state except in the two Union Territories of Chandigarh and Dadra & Nagar Haveli… provisions of the Waqf Act, 1995 were amended by The Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2013 which came into force on November 1, 2013. As per section 5 (1A) of the Act, the survey of Auqaf should have been completed within a year. But unfortunately, it has not been completed in any state…Similarly, most states have not established the three-member Waqf Tribunals,” she said.
She added that Waqf boards should resort to Gandhian ways and take the legal path to remove encroachment from properties. She was responding to Madhya Pradesh Waqf Board chairman Shaukat Mohammed Khan, who accused another member of the state board of encroaching upon 34 acre of Waqf property, which he said was worth more than Rs 500 crore.
“One is the legal option and the other is the Gandhian way. How many of you have gone there and staged a dharna? These (properties) are our heritage. Why don’t you organise people (against) this man’s encroachment? His face should be blackened before people for grabbing a property worth Rs 500 crore,” she said, adding that she would take up the issue with the Madhya Pradesh CM.
She slammed representatives of Waqf boards in non-BJP ruled states who did not attend the conference. “Representatives of UP, Delhi and Assam have not come. UP has no interest. They think they are not answerable to anyone, but when election comes, they will know who they are answerable to… representatives of Delhi have not come. I will ask the CM if the board’s chairman has been appointed to work or to only print his (visiting) cards? Assam is going to polls, but these are state elections and not of the Waqf board. Its CEO could have come,” she said.
She asked the Chief Legal Officer of Delhi board to convey to the Waqf board’s chairman and CEO that she was “angry” over their “absence”.
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