Tuesday, February 18th, 2025

Will NDA allies put pressure on the government? AIMPLB’s special strategy before the parliamentary committee meeting on Waqf Bill

New Delhi: Muslim organisations are opposing the Waqf Amendment Act and are approaching the Opposition as well as NDA allies like the JDU and TDP for support ahead of the first meeting of the joint committee of Parliament on Thursday. They want the proposed changes in the bill to be considered, especially those related to the protection and management of waqf properties.

Members of Muslim Personal Law met Nitish-Naidu

Members of the All India Muslim Personal Law Board, which is opposing the bill, have met NDA allies such as Bihar Chief Minister and JDU chief Nitish Kumar and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister and TDP chief N. Chandrababu Naidu to discuss the bill and seek support. They are also planning to meet Congress and SP leaders.

Appeal to convey your message to the center

Members of the Muslim Personal Law Committee Anisur Rahman and Abu Talib Rahmani met Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar in Patna on Saturday. Rahman, who is also the vice-president of the All India Milli Council, gave the chief minister a memorandum containing the proposed changes in the bill. “Hopefully the chief minister will help in conveying our concerns to the Centre. We are trying to hold meetings with all the panel members from Bihar,” Rahman said.

Why are you objecting to the new bill?

Rahman objected to the provision of the new bill that requires a person to follow Islam for five years to consider his/her property as Waqf. he/she urged the government to give some concessions. he/she also appealed to continue the tribunal system, which settles disputes related to Waqf properties. he/she said that he/she would meet Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) president and Union Minister Chirag Paswan to discuss the issue.

Opposition is opposing the Waqf Board Bill

The Centre introduced the bill in the Lok Sabha on August 8. Opposition parties like the Congress, Samajwadi Party, DMK and AIMIM opposed it, calling it an attack on a particular community. Congress MPs KC Venugopal and Hibi Eden had also issued notices to prevent it from being introduced in Parliament.

TDP and JDU supported the bill in Parliament

Though the TDP and JDU had supported the bill in the Lok Sabha, after its introduction, differences of opinion emerged between the two parties. While former JDU MLC Gulam Gaus called the bill an ‘attempt to seize the land of the Waqf Board’, TDP Minority Cell General Secretary Fathulla Mohammed called 40 sections of the bill harmful to Muslims.

also met Naidu

Meanwhile, Muslim Law Board spokesperson SQR Ilyas said a delegation of the Wakf Board met Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister and TDP chief N. Chandrababu Naidu on the issue in Vijayawada last week. “The TDP has assured us of support in the matter,” he/she said. he/she said the board members also plan to meet Congress and SP leaders in Delhi later.

Fathulla Mohammed said that a three-member delegation of Jamaat-e-Islami Hind (a self-proclaimed socio-religious organisation) met me in Delhi last month, following which their concerns were discussed with the party’s research team. After this we spoke to TDP MPs and Naidu. We welcome the bill but we also advocated sending it to the joint committee for scrutiny. Our only MP in the panel, Lavu Sri Krishna Devaraylu, will express our concerns in the panel meetings.

DTP will also woo Muslim votes

Jamaat-e-Islami Hind vice-president Malik Mohtasim Khan expressed concern about the provisions on protection and development of Waqf properties. “It (the new bill) legally enables the government and private companies to easily grab Waqf properties,” he/she said. Though Mohammed claimed the bill was unlikely to cause any rift between the TDP and the BJP, the Naidu-led organisation was treading cautiously as it did not want to anger Muslims in Andhra, a major voter base of the party and about 12% of the state’s population. “The BJP says the bill was introduced to strengthen the Waqf Board. We also want the same, but want the loopholes in the bill to be removed,” Mohammed said.

Meanwhile, the Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind, an organisation of Islamic scholars, is also holding meetings with members of the parliamentary committee and telling them that if the bill is passed in its current form, it will render all waqf properties vulnerable. Its secretary Niaz Ahmad Farooqui confirmed that the body’s state units have been asked to meet leaders of political parties on the issue.

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