'Muslims need to work according to strategy and not fall into the trap of Opposition parties.'
The new Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2025 was presented in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday, April 2, 2025, by Minority and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju amidst uproar from the Opposition.
The bill seeks to improve the functioning of the Waqf Board and ensure transparency in managing the numerous Waqf properties in India.
Presenting the bill, Rijiju said, 'Millions of poor Muslims will bless me for this effort. Why should I take these blessings alone? You should receive them, too. Support this bill, it is my sincere request to you all.'
The Waqf Act of 1954 governs properties used for religious and charitable purposes by the Muslim community.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi's National Democratic Alliance government wanted to pass the new Waqf bill in the monsoon session of Parliament in August 2024 but objections from NDA constituents like the Janata Dal-United and the Telugu Desam Party compelled the Bharatiya Janata Party-led government to send the bill to a Joint Parliament Committee.
After several suggestions from different political quarters and members of the public, the Modi government toned down the original Waqf bill and added 14 new clauses to it.
"Opposition parties are spreading lies against the Modi government so strongly because all they want is Muslim votes and not to do anything good for Muslims in return," Ghulam Ali Khatana, the BJP's lone Muslim MP, tells Syed Firdaus Ashraf/Rediff.com.
Even after the JPC was formed it looks like the Opposition and the government do not agree on the new Waqf bill. Why?
The Opposition is opposing the new Waqf bill for no reason. They are opposing it just for the sake of opposition.
The government could have passed this new Waqf bill in the August 2024 Parliament session itself but still we sent it to the Joint Parliament Committee because we wanted to get the Opposition's feedback and suggestions for passing the bill.
The government got 1.2 crore e-mail responses and suggestions after which we are presenting the new Waqf bill in Parliament.
During our JPC meetings, the Opposition parties never took the issue seriously. They used to unnecessarily delay JPC meetings and we finally realised that the Opposition was never interested in the wellbeing of the Muslim community.
How will the life of poor Muslims change post the passing of the Waqf bill?
I will give you the example of Jammu and Kashmir since I am from that state. There was a Hindu shrine at Vaishno Devi run by sadhus. The government took control of it (in 1987).
After the (Vaishno Devi) board was formed by the government the facilities for religious tourists and locals improved drastically. One university was opened later, a cancer hospital was built too and there was transparency put in place.
Today, Katra has a railway division (36 minutes away from the Vaishno Devi shrine). Life changed for the better. And let me remind you, Hindu sadhus had opposed the government taking control of Vaishno Devi board then.
Similarly, if you see, the Waqf board has the third largest landholding in India after the Indian Railways and the Indian Army but it never became an institution with transparency. We want to change that.
Why are non-Muslims allowed to be members of the Waqf board according to the new Waqf bill when Muslims cannot be a member of any temple trust?
In India there have been Muslim rulers whose rule lasted for centuries. After Partition, many Muslims left India. The Waqf property that was left behind by them has many Hindus living or doing business on those properties.
Somewhere it has been observed that they never get justice. Moreover, Prophet Mohammed's Islam covers the entire humanity and is for the universe. We as Muslims therefore must keep our doors open. And when we do things with honesty, it does not matter if Hindus or Christians come in (as Waqf board members).
But this is one of the main points of opposition from Muslims. They do not want people of other religions to be Waqf board members.
Muslims in this country have been misled by the Opposition. They have stereotyped them, like they are eating mutton all the time, which is not true. Muslims need to work according to strategy and not fall into the trap of Opposition parties.
You had only one objection to the old Waqf bill. What was it?
I only suggested that the Waqf board should have as one of its members a scholar of Arabic, Persian and Islam. This scholar must have knowledge about Muslim society and empathise with the cause of Muslims. It has been accepted in the new draft bill.
Therefore, I said Opposition parties did not do constructive opposition for the new Waqf bill and they were opposing the new Waqf bill for the sake of opposition.
What was the fight with the Opposition parties in the JPC about?
There is narrative, perception and practice in politics. The Opposition wanted only to set a narrative in the JPC that the government is not listening to them.
They were not doing constructive criticism in the JPC. They were looking only at headlines for the next day's newspapers which would show the government in poor light on the new Waqf bill.
Opposition leaders say that after disallowing Muslims from getting instant triple talaq the Modi government now wants to seize the rights of Muslims over Waqf properties.
The new Waqf bill is not about suppressing the rights of Muslims. It is a wrong analysis. Muslims must join their battle against injustice and stand by the truth.
Take, for example, the Modi government gave funds to madrasas for modernisation but the Muslim leadership spread a false narrative that the Modi government was shutting down madrasas.
In Jammu and Kashmir, a Muslim majority state, people got Rs 5 lakh (Rs 500,000) worth free medical treatment. But Opposition parties are spreading lies against the Modi government so strongly because all they want is Muslim votes and not to do anything good for Muslims in return.
If the BJP is so good for Muslims, then why don't Muslims understand the Opposition's plan? And you are the lone Muslim MP from the BJP.
I am in the BJP as a Muslim with conviction. I know for a fact that the Muslim majority of J&K has treated Muslims very badly for the last 70 years.
I am an educated Muslim and I know for a fact that (then chief minister) Sheikh Abdullah crushed our culture and everything that was dear to us. And he lived like a prince.
So why do Muslims shun leaders like you and elect other Muslims?
It will take time. Muslims have been associated with illiteracy.
If you see earlier films all gangsters were Muslim characters. Later their characters were associated with terrorists. This is what Opposition parties have given Muslims, by setting a narrative against Indian Muslims across India.
The All India Muslim Personal Law Board has opposed the new Waqf bill.
Indian Muslims will have no problems in the future with the new Waqf bill but, yes, the Muslims who collect rent on Waqf properties will have problems with it for sure. They are threatening other Muslims that your mosques will be seized by the government whereas the fact is Muslim heritage sites (under Waqf) are in khandar (ruins).
Do you believe poor Muslims will benefit from the Waqf bill?
Yes, they will have a better life though let me clarify, I am not a farishta (angel) to predict accurately.
Because as long as there are humans there is scope for error, but yes, we will build a new (Waqf) institution after the Waqf bill is passed in Parliament.
The commissioner who will be the CEO of Waqf will run the department smoothly. He or she will be an important person in any state of India, which is not the case now.
© 2025