Today in Politics: MIM’s Owaisi and Cong’s Mohammad Jawed challenge Waqf Bill

Two Opposition MPs — AIMIM’s Asaduddin Owaisi and Congress’s Mohammad Jawed — Friday moved the Supreme Court challenging the constitutional validity of the Waqf (Amendment) Act, hours after it cleared Parliament.

In his plea, Hyderabad MP Owaisi contended that the law is “manifestly arbitrary, perpetuates discrimination on grounds of religion, violates the Shariat Act and strips the Muslim community of the right to manage its own religious institutions”.

“The Amendment Act, 2025 marks a departure from this consistent progression towards affording greater protections to the rights of the Muslim community under Articles 25 and 26 of the Constitution and charts a new course of diluting the protections to Waqfs undermining the rights of the minority communities in its properties and expanding the interference of the State over waqf administration,” he said.

This diminishing of protection given to Waqfs while retaining them for religious and charitable endowments of other religions constitutes hostile discrimination against Muslims and is violative of Articles 14 and 15 of the Constitution, which prohibit discrimination on the grounds of religion,” he said.

Owaisi contended that the law mandating that a person should be a practising Muslim for at least five years to create Waqf is in direct conflict with Sections 3 and 4 of the Muslim Personal Law (Shariat) Application Act, 1937 and “undermines constitutional protections under Articles 14, 15, and 300A of the Constitution, as it discriminates against recent converts by selectively preventing them from seeking religious merit immediately upon conversion by disposing of their property in a manner they deem fit.”

Jawed’s plea too questioned the provision and said it is “unfounded in Islamic law, custom or precedent and infringes upon the Fundamental Right to profess and practice religion under Article 25”.

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PM Modi in Sri Lanka

Prime Minister Narendra Modi landed in Colombo Friday evening on a three-day visit.

Modi will hold wide-ranging talks with President Anura Kumara Dissanayake on Saturday.

The PM’s visit to Sri Lanka comes amid the Island nation’s showing signs of recovery from the economic stress. The country was reeling under a massive economic crisis three years back and India extended financial assistance worth USD 4.5 billion.

“We will have the opportunity to review progress made on the joint vision of ‘Fostering Partnerships for a Shared Future’ and provide further guidance to realise our shared objectives,” Modi said on Thursday in a statement before embarking on the two-nation tour.

Amit Shah in Chhattisgarh

Union Home Minister Amit Shah arrived in Chhattisgarh on Friday night on a two-day visit as part of which he will interact with top officials of security forces involved in anti-Naxalite operations and attend a cultural event.

As per his schedule, the Union Minister will reach Dantewada town at 12.10 pm on Saturday, where he will offer prayers at Maa Danteshwari Temple and attend the closing ceremony of ‘Bastar Pandum’ festival – a cultural event of the state government.

“Thereafter, Shah will interact with commanders of security forces involved in anti-Naxal operations. He will chair a review meeting on anti-Naxal operations and his departments at a hotel in Naya Raipur at 5.20 pm before leaving for Delhi,” an official said.

The Union Home Minister has frequently underlined the government’s resolve to eradicate Naxalism by March 2026.

Anti-Naxalite operations intensified in Chhattisgarh after the BJP came to power in 2023.

— PTI inputs