Syro-Malabar Church welcomes passing of Waqf Amendment Bill in Lok Sabha

Syro-Malabar Church supports Waqf Amendment Bill without endorsing any political party, emphasizing constitutional rights and religious freedom.

The Syro-Malabar Church has welcomed the passing of the Waqf Amendment Bill in Lok Sabha and said the Parliament has “only carried out its Constitutional obligation to the people of India.”

Fr. Antony Vadakkekara, official spokesman for the Church, said on Thursday (April 3, 2025) that the passing of the Waqf Amendment Bill is the result of the more than 170-day-old protest by the people of Munambam. The Church congratulated the protesters.

In supporting the Waqf Amendment Bill, the Syro-Malabar Church has not declared its support for any political party or a political coalition. It should not be construed that the Church has supported a political party, he added.

The Church is also not against any religion, religious rights or the Waqf law as such. Since some provisions in the Waqf law robbed people of their revenue rights over the land they legally owned, the provisions were opposed as being above the Constitution of the country, said Fr. Vadakkekara.

He also said the Waqf Amendment Bill should not be considered as setting a precedent in amending laws to “rob people of their religious freedom or denying the rights of the minority communities.”

Earlier, the Kerala Catholic Bishops’ Council (KCBC), the apex body of the Catholic hierarchy in Kerala, had appealed to all MPs to vote in support of the Waqf Amendment Bill.

The Kerala Catholic Federation called the appeal as voicing the opinion of the Christian sentiments on the issue of Waqf law amendment.