NEW DELHI (Diya TV) — The Indian government on April 2 brought the Waqf (Amendment) Bill to Parliament, proposing major modifications to how properties given for Muslim religious, educational, or charitable purposes are run. The bill aims to bring non-Muslim members into the Central Waqf Council and state waqf boards and gives the government the power to decide on ownership in controversial waqf cases.
Indian Minister of Minority Affairs Kiren Rijiju, who introduced the bill, said the suggested amendments were intended to stem corruption and mismanagement in waqf institutions, which he alleged have been dominated by elite Muslim families. He termed the bill as a “pro-Muslim reform.”
The bill, however, has been criticized by opposition legislators and Islamic groups. They contend that the law is an effort to water down Muslim property rights under the Indian Constitution and shift control of their assets to the state. Kamal Farooqui, a member of the All India Muslim Personal Law Board, questioned the inclusion of non-Muslims in waqf boards, asking, “Does it mean that Muslims will get similar reservations in the boards of Hindu temples?
More than 25 waqf boards run more than 851,535 properties across about 900,000 acres of land, making them one of India’s biggest landowners, according to government and Muslim organizations. The fate of the bill will be decided in a parliamentary vote, with ruling alliance and opposition lawmakers involved.
This comes against the backdrop of perceived friction between Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government and some in India’s Muslim community, which makes up around 13% of the country’s population. India is expected to be home to the world’s largest Muslim population by 2050, as per the Pew Research Center.
