– Arshad Shaikh
Indian mainstream media has acquired an epithet called “godi media”. A moniker for ‘lapdog media’ or a press pliant to the diktats of those in power. A natural outcome of this media “pliancy” makes it patently Islamophobic and virulently anti-Muslim. Sample some of the headlines being thrown by mainstream TV channels in India on the Waqf (Amendment) Bill 2024.
One channel says, “WAQF Claims 30,000 Acres in Kerala. How Long Waqf Terror Can Go Unchecked”. The same channel asserts – “XXX Exposes the Reality of the ‘Manufactured’ WAQF Protest Led by Owaisi In Delhi”. Another asks, “Kya Waqf Bill Mein Zehar Bhara Hai” (is the waqf bill filled with poison). These toxic headlines scream hatred and prejudice towards all things Muslim and play a big role in framing the narrative being assiduously built in India about its Muslim community being unpatriotic, problematic, and a burden on the nation.
There is extensive research and analysis on this scourge of anti-Muslim hate that has engulfed the mainstream media for over a decade. Consequently, people in India especially Muslims have stopped watching TV news and started relying on alternate media (mostly YouTube News Channels), community media, and non-corporate media to consume news and understand it.
Foreign coverage of news and issues is expected to be neutral and unbiased as they don’t have any axe to grind and usually look at the story from a macro perspective.
The Waqf (Amendment) Bill 2024
Indian Muslims strongly oppose the Waqf (Amendment) Bill 2024. They feel that it introduces excessive government control over the management of their properties. They view it as a surreptitious method of robbing the community of its legitimate assets in the name of ‘transparency’ and ‘efficiency’. Moreover, the amendments were unilaterally pushed down their throats without proper consultation. The community has called for the Bill’s withdrawal and threatened to take to the streets to make the government see reason.
An objective way to cover such a sensitive issue would be to study the provisions of the amendments put forth by the government, analyse the objections of Muslims and check if the Muslim perspective is valid.
The Economist on Waqf
In its story (6 March 2025) titled “A new law targets India’s third-biggest landowner: Allah”, the Economist frames the issue as politically motivated and a move that aligns with the broader Hindutva agenda of the government. According to the Economist, Waqf land holdings are valued at approximately $14 billion. The article quotes AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi, who says, “This bill has nothing to do with protecting waqf properties or increasing their revenues. It has been brought to take away Muslim properties and to have more government control over them.”
Syed Sadatullah Husaini, president of Jamaat-e-Islami Hind, tells the Economist: “The law could also lead to the destruction of many such properties.”
The Economist criticises the Bill for disproportionately targeting Muslim endowments while leaving Hindu religious institutions untouched. Delving on how the right wing is preying on properties under Muslim control, the article says, “In some parts of India, BJP leaders are using the waqf bill to rally the party faithful. Yogi Adityanath, the BJP’s chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, has been especially critical of waqf boards. Mr Adityanath, a potential successor to Mr Modi, said in January that his government was examining records to check on properties improperly designated as waqf. “We will reclaim every inch of such land,” he said. The issue is potentially incendiary in Uttar Pradesh as it has over 232,000 waqf properties, more than any other state. It is also a touchy subject in Delhi, where government agencies have occupied many waqf properties. In 2023 the government announced its intention to seize control of 123 of them, including the Parliament Street mosque, which has been used by Muslim parliamentarians since 1947.”
BBC News covers Waqf (Amendment) Bill
Writing for BBC News, Meryl Sebastian & Neyaz Farooquee (Why Muslims in India are opposing changes to a property law, 14 February 2025) provide a balanced analysis of the issue. They present both the government’s claim that the bill aims to curb corruption as well as the Muslim stand that the bill is nothing but an attempt at legal stealing. Explaining the Muslim perspective, the BBC News writers quote Professor Mujibur Rehman, the author of Shikwa-e-Hind: The Political Future of Indian Muslims. Prof Rehman explains “that tracing the ownership of such long-standing community properties is complicated, as their management and deed systems have shifted over the centuries from the Mughal system to the British colonial system, and now to the current system. You can trace personal properties up to a few generations, but tracing community properties is more difficult, as their management keeps changing over time”.
The BBC says, “Others worry that the new bill may not address the community’s concerns but could instead considerably take away the role of Muslims in controlling waqf properties. That’s because the proposed changes include tweaks to the composition of waqf boards, making it compulsory to include non-Muslims as its members.”
Giving definitive data about the issue, BBC News states, “The government says that the waqf boards are among India’s largest landholders. There are at least 872,351 waqf properties across India, spanning more than 940,000 acres, with an estimated value of 1.2 trillion rupees ($14.22bn; £11.26bn)”. The issue is summed up with a quote by Prof Rehman that “The diagnosis may be correct, but the treatment is not.”
Al Jazeera’s “EXPLAINER” and DW News Hindi
Al Jazeera writes an “Explainer” on the Waqf Bill and strongly criticises the bill as an effort to erode Muslim rights in India. Al Jazeera extensively quotes legal expert, Faizan Mustafa who says, “Waqf is an essential feature of Islamic civilisations. The western idea of trust was borrowed from the Muslim concept of waqf. Since many waqfs are 500-600 years old, proper documentation may not be there. The proposals rather than improving the efficiency of administration of waqf may go in the opposite direction. Many people ironically believe that waqf boards are some private Muslim bodies. Waqf boards are the statutory bodies of the government.”
The article quotes Vice President of Jamaat-e-Islami Hind, Malik Moatasim Khan: “Each and every thing is finalised under the supervision of law and government. The problem is the mindset of the government.”
Eminent Muslim leader, Kamal Farooqui feels: “The purpose of the government is not to end corruption and mismanagement but to ‘demolish all those institutions that are contributing to the betterment of Muslims. This is a plan to polarise the whole country.”
Writing about the Waqf Bill for DW Media (Hindi), Aamir Ansari quotes Vice President of Jamaat-e-Islami Hind, Prof. Salim Engineer, saying that “the government will act wisely and withdraw the bill. However, if it continues in this manner, Muslim organisations will adopt all legal, constitutional, ethical, and peaceful means to oppose it.”
