As parliamentary panel on Waqf Bill prepares to meet, Muslim outfits reach out to BJP allies

Objecting to the provision in the new Bill, which mandates a person to practise Islam for five years for his property to be considered Waqf, Rehman urged the government to grant some concession. “The tribunal system, which disposes disputes related to Waqf properties, should also continue while provisions of the 1995 Act must not be diluted. This will help protect Waqf properties,” he said, adding that he would meet Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) president and Union Minister Chirag Paswan to discuss the issue.

The Centre tabled the Bill in the Lok Sabha on August 8 amid protests from Opposition parties such as the Congress, Samajwadi Party (SP), DMK, and AIMIM that termed the Bill an “attack on a particular community”. Congress MPs K C Venugopal and Hibi Eden also issued a notice to prevent it from being introduced in Parliament.

Even as the TDP and JD(U) extended support to the Bill in the Lok Sabha, differing views in both parties came to the fore after its introduction. While former JD(U) MLC Ghulam Gaus termed the Bill “an attempt to seize the Waqf Board’s land”, TDP minority cell general secretary Fathullah Mohammad had called 40 sections of the Bill “detrimental to Muslims”.

Meanwhile, AIMPLB spokesperson S Q R Ilyas said a delegation of the Waqf Board met Andhra Pradesh CM and TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu on the issue in Vijayawada last week. “The TDP has assured us of support in the matter,” he said, adding that the board members also plan to meet Congress and SP leaders later in Delhi.

“A three-member delegation of the Jamaat-e-Islami Hind (a self-proclaimed socio-religious organisation) met me last month in Delhi following which their concerns were discussed with the party’s research team. We then spoke to the TDP MPs and Naidu. We welcome the Bill but also advocated for it to be sent to the joint panel for scrutiny. Our lone MP on the panel – Lavu Sri Krishna Devarayalu – will spell out our concerns in the panel’s sittings,” Fathullah Mohammad said.

The Jamaat-e-Islami Hind’s vice-president Malik Mohtasim Khan voiced concerns about the provisions on protection and development of Waqf properties. “It (the new Bill) legally enables the government and private players to grab Waqf properties easily,” he said.

Even as Mohammad claimed the Bill was not likely to cause any rift between the TDP and the BJP, the Naidu-led outfit is seemingly treading cautiously as it does not want to antagonise Muslims in Andhra, a key voter base of the party that constitutes around 12% of the state’s population. “The BJP says the Bill was introduced to make the Waqf Board stronger. We also want this, but want the flaws in the Bill to be fixed,” Mohammad said.

Meanwhile, the Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind, a body of Islamic scholars, is also holding meetings with the members of the parliamentary panel and telling them that the Bill, if passed in its current form, will make all Waqf properties “unsafe”. Its secretary Niaz Ahmed Farooqui confirmed that the body’s state units had been asked to meet leaders of political parties on the issue.