By UZMA AUSAF
The much-talked about Waqf Amendment Bill 2024 notched up an unlikely piece of history. For over a decade the Narendra Modi government has bulldozed its way through Parliament and got even sensitive Bills passed on the strength of its brute majority in Lok Sabha. However, Modi’s third term has seen him being dependent on allies for support. It became clear when the Waqf Bill was discussed loudly and energetically in Lok Sabha with the Opposition parties, for a change, putting the government on the mat by questioning its intention behind introducing the Bill which seeks to overhaul the functioning of Waqf Board, reducing their powers and giving government authorities critical say in deciding whether a property is waqf or not.
Probably realizing that it won’t be easy to get the Bill passed in both Houses of Parliament, the government took the suggestion of the Telugu Desam Party to refer the Bill to a joint parliamentary committee. The committee thus formed will have 31 members, 21 from Lok Sabha and 10 from Rajya Sabha. The BJP nominated hotheads like Tejasvi Surya and Nishikant Dubey to the committee, the Opposition parties opted to be represented by Gaurav Gogoi, A. Raja, Imran Masood, Muhibullah Nadwi and Sanjay Singh, etc. The committee will give its report in a month.
It was a no small win for the Opposition. Since 2014, it had become rare for any Bill to be sent to JPC. This could be possible because during discussion on the Bill, the Opposition parties led by the Congress called it “draconian”. Similarly, Akhilesh Yadav, the Samajwadi Party leader, called the Bill an attack on the Constitution and the freedom of religion given by it. Mr Yadav asked the government, “What is the point of including non-Muslims in Waqf Board when it is not done in other religious bodies. His point was supported by the DMK, MP Kani Mozhi, who asked, “Will it be possible for a Muslim or a Christian to be part of a Board, which manages a Hindu temple? No. Then why should somebody who does not believe in a particular religion have the right to make decisions on behalf of that religion?”
The proposed changes in the Waqf Bill are over-arching. The 1995 Waqf Act establishes Waqf Boards in every state and these boards are considered juristic persons, allowing them to sue anybody and to be held accountable in the court of law. Every waqf board has Muslim legislators, Islamic scholars and mutawalli of the waqf. The board also has a chief executive officer, a Muslim, who holds the rank of deputy secretary or above in the government. The board manages the waqf properties, protects them and sanction the transfer of the immovable property. However, the amendments moved by the Modi governments amount to a fundamental change in the Waqf Act.
Under the Bill, only lawful property owners who have practiced Islam for at least five years are authorized to create “waqf” properties through the execution of formal deeds. This revision abolishes the “waqf by use” concept which permits a property to be considered waqf based on usage, even if the original deed was disputed. The responsibility of surveying waqf properties is now proposed to be assigned to district collectors. The Bill omits Section 40, which grants Waqf tribunal, the authority to determine whether or not the property was waqf. It seeks to designate the district collector as the final word. It also proposes the inclusion of two non-Muslims and women as members. The Centre can also appoint three MPs who may not necessarily be Muslims to the Board.
The Bill empowers the Centre to “direct the audit of any waqf at any time by an auditor appointed by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India, or by any officer designated by the Central Government for that purpose”. The Waqf Boards are required to audit their accounts annually, selecting, auditors from a panel constituted by the state governments. Penalties will also be levelled upon mutawallis if they fail to maintain proper accounts.
Though the Bill was referred to the committee, the fact remains that the Bill has caused grave concern among Muslims who fear that the government is trying to usurp their property. Understandably, all the Muslim organisations like Jamaat-e-Islami Hind, and Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind and others, called the Bill an infringement of Muslim rights.
Jamaat-Islami-Hind president Sadatullah Husaini took objection to the inclusion of non-Muslim members. “To make it mandatory for inclusion of non-Muslims is questionable,” he said. However, he welcomed the inclusion of women members in the Waqf Board. It is there in the 1995 Act too. There is no problem with that,” he said. Mr Husaini sought a clarification if the women members would be from the community or otherwise. Also he objected to the proposed changes to 32 State Waqf Boards, particularly the possibility of the inclusion of non-Muslim joint secretary there.
On the same lines, the Jamiat’s president Maulana Arshad Madani also felt that through the proposed changes, the government wants to destroy the character of waqf board and ultimately seize the properties under any excuse.
The Waqf, incidentally, is the owner of the third largest property in the country, and the largest non-government institution. The waqf tradition goes back to the time of Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, and successive governments after independence in India have respected the autonomy of the Waqf Board, by and large refraining from interference in its day-to-day affairs. This is the first time, any government has tried to impose its own nominees, particularly, non-Muslim nominees to change the very fabric of the institution. While no non-Hindu is part of temple boards or Sikh Gurudwara Prabandhak Committee, the attempt through the Bill is to weaken the Muslims’ hold over their own property, and make it difficult for a Muslim to practice his religion. After all, waqf property comes through charitable endowments by well-meaning Muslims. Charity is an essential part of Islam. The Quran mentions charity after prayer in the same ayah or the following one as an instruction to humanity.
The new Bill exposes the BJP’s fundamental dislike of anything to do with the Muslim community, be it mosques or madrasas, meat or hijab, and now the waqf.
