Several Opposition leaders on Monday alleged that the Bharatiya Janata Party-led government wants to bring a bill for amending the Wakf Act to create a divide in the society and asserted that they would strongly oppose such legislation.
Several BJP leaders, however, strongly defended the imminent move, stressing that the Modi government has always worked with the intention of bringing transparency in every sphere.
The bill to amend the Wakf Act, 1995, if it is introduced and passed, will make it mandatory for the Waqf boards to register their properties with the district collectors to ensure their actual valuation.
There are 30 Waqf boards in the country.
The sources on Sunday pointed out that the revenue generated by all Waqf properties is estimated at Rs 200 crore per annum. This is not in sync with the number of properties such bodies have, they said.
The government is all set to bring a bill in Parliament to amend the 1995 law governing the Waqf boards to ensure more accountability and transparency in their functioning and mandatory inclusion of women in these bodies, sources said on Sunday.
They claimed that the move comes in the backdrop of demands from within the Muslim community.
Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav said his party would oppose the Centre's move to bring a bill in Parliament to amend the 1995 law governing Waqf boards, and accused the BJP of trying to snatch the rights of Muslims.
"We will be against it (Wakf Act amendment bill)," Yadav told reporters when asked about the proposed amendment
"BJP's only work is to divide Hindus and Muslims, snatch the rights of Muslim brothers and work on the manner in which to snatch the rights given to them in the Constitution," he said after paying tributes to late MP and party leader Janeshwar Mishra on his birth anniversary in Lucknow.
Indian Union Muslim League's ET Mohammed Basheer said the move on the part of the government is ill-intentioned.
"A committee was appointed under K Rahman Khan and the BJP wanted to have a grip on the Waqf properties. They want to take custody of the Waqf properties.
"If such a legislation comes, we will very strongly oppose it. We will also speak with like-minded parties," he told reporters outside Parliament.
If the government goes ahead with the bill, it must be prepared for strong opposition, Basheer added.
Shiv Sena-Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray MP Priyanka Chaturvedi alleged that the BJP-led government wants to run away from the discussion on Budget and, therefore, they have come up with the Waqf issue.
"Until it is tabled in Parliament, I would not like to comment," she added.
Communist Party of India-Marxist MP Amra Ram said the BJP believes in "divisive politics" and instead of strengthening Waqf boards, they are trying to interfere with them.
"Instead of providing education and employment to the minorities, they have always attacked their rights. We condemn this. If they continue with this divisive rhetoric, we showed them a trailer in 2024 and will now show them the full movie," he said.
Another CPI-M MP Sudama Prasad said the BJP-led government's only intention is to promote a divisive agenda.
"Bring a bill to deal with unemployment. But they are 24X7 only looking at divisive agenda like mandir-masjid and Hindustan-Pakistan," he said.
Asked about the talk of the bill on Wakf Act, Jharkhand Mukti Morcha's Mahua Maji said one-sided view should not be taken and if any amendments are to be made, the government should listen to all sides.
Asked about the issue, BJP MP Trivendra Singh Rawat said it is a good thing if shortcomings in the Wakf Act are being removed.
"I have experienced it myself that there are intense internal conflicts in the Waqf boards and their properties are being misused. Those who are powerful in the Muslim community are misusing the properties," he told reporters outside Parliament.
Speaking on the issue, BJP MP Sanjay Jaiswal said the Modi government runs on transparency and only those "who are scamsters" can object to transparency.
Samajwadi Party MP from Faizabad, Awadhesh Prasad, said the party will analyse with what intentions the bill is being brought and what its contents are, and will then comment on it accordingly.
SP MP Zia ur Rahman Barq said whenever the National Democratic Alliance government brings a bill, it gives the reason that it is for the benefit of the community.
"I want to ask them, was the farm bills in the interests of farmers? If their intention was clear, they should have spoken to the intellectuals of the community. But their intentions are not right and they want to take control of the Waqf boards and suppress the Muslim community," he said.
All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen president Asaduddin Owaisi on Sunday had alleged that the NDA government wants to take away the autonomy of the Waqf Board.
The BJP has been against the Waqf boards and Waqf properties "from the beginning" and it has made attempts to finish Waqf properties and Waqf Board according to its "Hindutva agenda", he had claimed.
The All India Muslim Personal Law Board on Sunday said any interference with the legal status and the powers of the Waqf boards would not be tolerated.
The AIMPLB urged allies of the NDA and opposition parties to "completely reject any such move" and not allow such amendments to be passed in Parliament.
AIMPLB spokesperson SQR Ilyas said the board appeals to all Muslims and their religious and Milli organisations to unite against this "malicious act of the government".
The board will take all kinds of legal and democratic measures to thwart this move, he said in a statement.
