Proposed amendments to Waqf Act are intended to rob Muslims of Waqf Properties, violation of freedom of religion: Owaisi

Asaduddin Owaisi criticizes reported proposed amendments to Waqf Act, accusing BJP and RSS of targeting Muslim properties.

Hyderabad parliamentarian Asaduddin Owaisi on August 4, while reacting to media reports about proposed amendments to the Waqf Act, said these would trample upon the freedom of religion and were intended to grab waqf properties from the Muslims.

Mr Owaisi was speaking to the media at party headquarters in Darussalaam where he said that if media reports are to be believed, then the proposed amendments were reflective of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) agenda to end waqf. “The BJP since the beginning has been against waqf and waqf boards. And it is the RSS’ Hindutva agenda to finish waqf properties, and waqf boards.”

“The proposed amendments, as reported by media, show that Modi government wants to snatch the autonomy of waqf boards, and also wants to interfere in the object of waqf, that of administering waqf properties. This itself is against the freedom of religion,” Mr Owaisi, who is also the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen president, said.

Mr Owaisi objected to what he described as the government’s “leaks to the media”. He emphasised that at a time when the parliament was in session, it was imperative that these proposed amendments, as reported by the media, be brought to the attention of parliamentarians first.

The AIMIM president stated per the Waqf Act, state governments appoint a survey commissioner [of waqfs] who identifies waqf properties, and subsequently prepares a list of waqfs. The list is then sent to the State government which issues a gazette notification, which itself is an official act. If unchallenged for a year, the final nature of the property becomes waqf, he said.

“They want to change this. Meaning, the properties which are already waqf, it would have to be re-established that they are waqf. This is an impossibility. Secondly, you want to dilute the conclusive nature of the gazette. Many have illegally encroached upon waqfs. This means they will get a chance to claim that the property is theirs,” Mr Owaisi said.

The Hyderabad parliamentarian raised further objections to what he said was the executive’s intervention to survey disputes waqf properties. “If a property is disputed, then adjudication is the judiciary’s domain. Here, the Modi government will create a dispute and will get it surveyed. The executive or the Chief Minister will get the survey done, and if the BJP is in power It is obvious what result this will yield,” he said. “There are many dargahs and masjids which the BJP and RSS claim are not dargahs and masjids. The executive wants to snatch the power of the judiciary.”