RSS mouthpiece pulls down article on comparison of land owned by Catholic churches, Waqf Board after Rahul Gandhi questioned its motive

Organiser withdraws article comparing Catholic Church and Waqf Board land ownership amid allegations of targeting Christians.

Organiser, the English mouthpiece of Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS) has pulled down a recent article on comparison of the land owned by Catholic churches and Waqf board. The withdrawal happened as the Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi alleged that after Muslims, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is set to go after Christians.

This came at a time when the Narendra Modi government has just managed a successful passage of the Waqf (amendment) Bill 2025 which proposes significant changes in regulation of Waqf properties, inalienable charitable endowment under Islamic law meant for the uplift and benefit of the community. The new Bill has given powers to States to decide on Waqf land and made provisions that tribal and archaeological lands will not be under Waqf anymore.

Opposition MPs during the debate on Waqf (amendment) Bill-2025, both in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, had contended that with this legislation the government is targeting the Waqf properties and they, soon enough, will shift the focus towards other communities including Christians. The Waqf Bill was also supported by Kerala Catholic Bishops’ Council.

The article titled ‘who has more land in India? The Catholic Churches Vs Waqf Board debate’, claimed that the land owned by Catholic Churches of India is more than 7 crore hectares which it said is the “the largest non-governmental land owner.”

Drawing the BJP lead Central Government’s attention towards the issue, the articles claimed that the total estimated value of the Catholic church properties is around ₹20,000 crore, making the Church a significant player in India’s real estate landscape, more than the Waqf Board.

“For many years, there has been a common belief that the Waqf Board is the second-largest landowner in India after the government. However, this claim does not align with the actual data on land ownership in the country. The Catholic Church of India holds the distinction of being the largest non-governmental landowner, possessing vast tracts of land spread across the country,” the articles reads that cited the data from the Government Land Information website.

Slamming the ‘motive’ of the article, which he claimed is a fine example describing the ‘precedent’ of BJP to target other minorities, Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi said he had already warned people of the same.