India’s parliament passes bill that would change Muslim land endowments

• The Indian Parliament has passed a controversial bill that has amended the law on Muslim land donations called WAQFS by including non-Muslims on boards that manage these properties and increase government supervision.
• The government claims the change is intended to combat corruption and promote diversity, but critics believe it undermines Muslim rights and may lead to the confiscation of historical religious sites.
• Muslim groups and opposition parties expressed concern that the bill was politically motivated and could marginalize Muslims by changing ownership rules and requiring the WAQF board to verify property claims.

Indian Parliament A controversial bill proposed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Indian nationalist government was passed to amend laws on Muslim land donations, while Muslim groups and opposition parties protested the move.

The bill will add non-Muslims to the board of directors that manage WAQF land donations and play a greater role in verifying their land holdings. The government said the changes will help fight corruption and mismanagement while promoting diversity, but critics fear it will further undermine the rights of Muslim minorities in the country and can be used to confiscate historical mosques and other property.

The debate was intense in both houses in Parliament. The House of Commons held debates from Wednesday to Thursday early hours, while in the House of Lords, the heated discussion lasted for more than 16 hours until early Friday.

Congress-led opposition firmly opposed the proposal, calling it unconstitutional and Discrimination against Muslims. Modi-ruled Bharatiya Janata party lacks a majority in the House of Commons, but its allies helped pass the bill.

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In the House of Commons, 288 members voted for the bill, while 232 opposed it. Likewise, 128 prefer it, while 95 voted against it in the House of Lords. The bill will now be sent to President Droupadi Murmu to make his consent become law.

Minority Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju introduced a bill to change the 1995 law that sets rules for the foundation and sets up state boards to manage them.

Many Muslim groups, as well as opposition parties, say the proposal is discriminatory, politically motivated, and an attempt by Modi’s ruling party to weaken the rights of a minority.

The bill was first introduced in parliament last year, with opposition leaders saying some of their subsequent proposals have been ignored. The government said the opposition is using rumors to discredit them and prevent transparency from managing the endowment funds.

What is WAQF?

WAQF is a traditional Islamic charitable foundation in which donors permanently abandon property for religious or charitable purposes (usually but not always real estate). WAQF properties cannot be sold or transferred.

India’s WAQF controls 872,000 real estate, covering 405,000 hectares (1 million acres) of land, with an estimated value of US$14.22 billion. Some of these donations date back to centuries, and many can be used in mosques, seminaries, cemeteries and orphanages.

Laws will change who run waqfs

In India, WAQF property is managed by a semi-official board of directors, one in each state, and the federal government owns the Union territory. The law will require the appointment of non-Muslims.

Currently, the WAQF Board is composed of Muslims, such as similar institutions that help manage other religious charities.

period Parliamentary debateHome Minister Amit Shah said non-Muslims can only be included on the WAQF board for management purposes and help make the donation smoothly. He added that they were not there to interfere in religious affairs.

“Members of (non-Muslim) will monitor whether the government is operating under the law and whether the donation is used for their intentions,” he said.

Muslim groups, like the All-India Muslim Private Law Commission, such comments oppose the basic Islamic donation, because these bodies must be dominated by Muslims. The board said the bill was a “blatant infringement of the constitutional rights of Muslim citizens” and called on citizens to oppose Muslim citizens on the streets.

Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge said: “Why should the WAQF institution allow non-Muslims as members when the Hindu Temple Trust does not allow people of other religions to fold?”

One of the most controversial changes is the rules of ownership that may affect historical mosques, shrines and cemeteries, as many such properties lack formal documents as they were not recorded in the past decades or even centuries before.

Questions about title

Other changes may affect the centuries-old WAQF land on mosques.

Radical Hindu groups have made claims against several mosques across India, believing they were built on the ruins of important Hindu temples. Many such cases are being heard in court.

The law will require the WAQF board to seek approval from district-level officials to confirm WAQFS’s claims on property.

Critics say this will undermine the board and may lead to Muslims being deprived of land. It is unclear how long it will take for the board to confirm such land.

Rahul Gandhi, the chief opposition leader, wrote on social media platform X: “The WAQF (Amendment) bill is a weapon designed to marginalize Muslims and usurp their personal laws and property rights.

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Muslim fear

Although many Muslims agree that the WAQF is plagued by corruption, encroachment and mismanagement, they are also concerned that the new law may give India’s Hindu nationalist government greater control over Muslim property, especially when attacks on Modi become more aggressive, Muslims often target Muslims, which are often used for all religious beliefs in food and clothing styles.

Last month, the U.S. Council on International Religious Freedom said in its annual report Religious freedom conditions in India During last year’s campaign, Modi and his party continued to worsen “hatred speech and false information against Muslims and other religious minorities”.

The Modi government said India is based on the principle of equality and the country does not discriminate.

A 2013 government survey found that Muslims are the largest ethnic minority group in India, accounting for 14% of India’s 1.4 billion people, but they are also the poorest Muslim group, but they are also the poorest.

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