Union Minority Minister Kiren Rijiju moved the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2024, in the Lok Sabha on August 8. The bill proposes to amend the Waqf Act, 1995, and seeks to ‘effectively’ address issues related to the powers of the State Waqf Boards, Central Waqf Coucil, registration and survey of Waqf properties, and removal of encroachments.
Opposition parties in the INDIA bloc, including the Congress, the Samajwadi Party (SP), the DMK and NCP (SCP), opposed the bill. Supriya Sule of the NCP (SCP) requested Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla to either withdraw the bill or sent it for scrutiny to a House committee.
Soon after the Minister moved the bill, Congress Member of Parliament (MP) KC Venugopal called it an attack on religious freedom. Venugopal said this bill is a fundamental attack on the Constitution. “Through this bill, they are putting a provision that non-Muslims also be members of the Waqf governing council. It is a direct attack on freedom of religion. Next, you will go for Christians, then Jains…People of India will not buy this kind of divisive politics now.
Rajiv Ranjan of the Janata Dal (United) countered Venugopal’s comments saying that the bill intends to bring in transparency in Waqf Board management and doesn’t target any particular individual religion. “The bill doesn’t talk about Masjids. It talks about making the management of Waqf Board created by a law more transparent,” Lallan Singh said.
With over 40 amendments, the new bill proposes to revoke several clauses in the existing Waqf Act, 1995 – the law governing Waqf boards. Among other changes, the bill pitches for far-reaching changes in the present Act, including ensuring the representation of Muslim women and non-Muslims in central and state Waqf bodies.
The bill proposes that the Central Waqf Council and state Waqf Boards must have at least two women on the boards and at least two non-Muslim members appointed by the state government to the waqf boards at the state level.
(This is a breaking story. Please check for updates)
