India TV Chairman and Editor-in-Chief Rajat Sharma.
The government has introduced a bill to amend the Waqf Act in the Lok Sabha. This law will affect the ownership, management and possession of 8.5 lakh properties. The government has sent the bill to the Joint Parliamentary Committee. It has been learned that the Telugu Desam Party, Janata Dal-United and Loktantrik Janata Party (Chirag) had told the BJP leaders that confusion has been spread about this bill. Therefore, instead of passing it in a hurry, it should be sent to the Standing Committee or Joint Parliamentary Committee for consideration. Congress, Samajwadi Party, Sharad Pawar’s NCP, DMK, National Conference, Muslim League and Asaduddin Owaisi’s AIMIM all supported the Muslims, openly opposed the change in the Waqf Act. The opposition united on this issue and said that the government’s intention behind the change is not clear, the government wants to usurp the Waqf property, so no change in the Waqf Act will be accepted. Some called it against the Constitution, some said that the change in the Waqf Act is beyond the jurisdiction of the government. The government is breaking the federal structure by bringing such a bill. Some said that this is the government’s next step towards a Hindu nation. Many such allegations were made. Minority Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju introduced two bills in the House regarding the Waqf Board. The first bill was the Waqf Amendment Bill 2024 and the second was the Muslim Waqf Repeal Bill 2024.
Congress MP KC Venugopal started the discussion by saying that when temples are managed by Hindus, there is no Muslim in their board, then why are people of other religions being brought into the management of Waqf property, this is an attack on the religious freedom of Muslims. Asaduddin Owaisi said that the Parliament does not have the right to make laws on Waqf, this bill is a violation of Articles 14, 15 and 25 of the Constitution. This bill is arbitrary and divisive, this bill is against the basic spirit of the Constitution and violates judicial independence. Trinamool Congress MP Kalyan Banerjee also said that the amendment in the Waqf Act is beyond the jurisdiction of the Central Government. It cannot bring this bill because land is a state subject, and only a civil court can decide on it. Kalyan Banerjee alleged that this bill has been brought to take over the Waqf property. Mamata Banerjee’s party leader Kalyan Banerjee is a lawyer, he knows that the Wakf Act was made by the Parliament in 1954, at that time there was a provision to challenge the decision of the Wakf Board in the civil court, but in 1963 the Congress government itself abolished this right and implemented the system of Wakf Tribunal. Was that illegal? Did the Congress government of that time do this to please the Muslims? These questions were asked by the NDA leaders to the leaders of Congress and Indi Alliance.
On the allegation of ending federalism and secularism, Eknath Shinde’s Shiv Sena MP Shrikant Shinde said that when the UPA government was in power at the centre, there was interference in the administration of many temples in Maharashtra but then neither did anyone remember federalism nor secularism. Shrikant Shinde said that the motive of those who are opposing this bill is not the welfare of Muslims but vote bank politics. Akhilesh Yadav objected to the fact that when the members of the Waqf Board are elected democratically, then what is the justification for nominating women and backward Muslims separately. Akhilesh Yadav said that after the election results, the BJP wants to end the Waqf Board to please its fundamentalists. Two things need to be understood. First, the Waqf Board is not a religious institution, it is a board formed by law which is only for the care and protection of the Waqf property. Therefore, it is not right to call it interference in religious matters. This was said by Janata Dal-U leader Lallan Singh in the Lok Sabha. Lallan Singh said that the opposition is spreading confusion, there are many flaws in the current structure of the Waqf Board, through this bill the Waqf Board will be made accountable and transparent.
Responding to the debate, Minister of Minority Affairs Kiren Rijiju said that this is not the first time that the Waqf Act is being amended. The 1995 Waqf Act was amended in 2013 as well, but the amendments made by the Congress government were contrary to the Sachar Committee report. They were contrary to the suggestions of the JPC headed by K. Rahman Khan. Kiren Rijiju said that there are about 8.5 lakh Waqf properties in the country, they are being misused, there is no system to correct it. Therefore, the government is trying to correct the system for the welfare of Muslims. I will tell you the full story of what Kiren Rijiju said in brief, in gestures. Actually, since the Waqf Act was made, the need for improvement in it has been pointed out many times. A committee was formed in 1976. In its report, it was said that the entire Waqf Board is in the possession of Mutawallis (caretakers), it needs to be corrected. Apart from this, there is a huge irregularity in the accounts of the Waqf Board, arrangements should be made for its audit. After this, in 1995, the Congress government made some changes in this act. Then in 2005, the Sachchar Committee was formed. In the report of the Sachchar Committee, it was said that the Waqf has 4 lakh 69 thousand properties. They are generating an income of only Rs 162 crore, whereas according to the market rate, the income should be at least Rs 12 thousand crore. There is a need to investigate where this money is going. There is a need to manage the properties of the Waqf Board in a transparent manner.
The Sachchar Committee had recommended that the base of the Waqf Board should be expanded. There should be at least 2 women in the Central and State Waqf Boards. Backward Muslims should also get a place and at least one Class One officer should be appointed in the board to run all the activities in a legal manner. Then, during the Congress government, a JPC was formed under the chairmanship of K Rehman Khan. That JPC also said in its report that all the power of the Waqf Board is being used in the game of appointing and removing Mutawalli, this needs to be stopped. A survey of the Waqf property should be done. For this, experts should be in the board. The Waqf Board should be computerized. All records and all records of expenditure and income should be recorded in the computer in a transparent manner. The JPC had said that the Waqf Act of 1995 needs to be reconsidered, but at that time Dr. Manmohan Singh’s government neither accepted the recommendation of the Sachchar Committee nor that of the JPC. In 2013, the Waqf Act was definitely amended, but the Waqf Board was given more powers. Earlier, cases related to tenants and leases were settled by the civil court, but the Congress government gave the Waqf Board the right to settle disputes related to the tenant of the Waqf, and the dispute related to the lease of Waqf property, apart from the Waqf property dispute.
Earlier, the Waqf Board had to bear the cost of survey of Waqf property, but the Congress government amended the law in 2013 and put the cost of survey of Waqf property on the state government. Before 2013, the Waqf Board could have chairpersons and members from other religions, but in 2013, the Congress government changed the law to ensure that only Muslims would be members of the Waqf Board. All these steps were against the recommendations of the Sachar Committee and JPC, but the Congress took these steps. Now the government has corrected those mistakes. However, now this bill has been sent to the JPC and the government did not agree to this also because there was pressure from the opposition parties, in fact, all three parties JD-U, LJP and TDP wanted this, so the government agreed to it. LJP President and Union Minister Chirag Paswan said that the opposition is spreading the misconception that this bill is anti-Muslim. To remove this misconception, his party had demanded to send the bill to the Parliamentary Committee. Chirag Paswan said that now this bill will be discussed in JPC and all misunderstandings will be cleared. Chirag Paswan may talk about misunderstandings but the reality is that JD-U, LJP or TDP, all three parties are worried about Muslim votes. Assembly elections are to be held in Bihar next year. Therefore Nitish Kumar and Chirag Paswan are helpless. Both parties found a middle path. They supported the bill when it was presented and then demanded to send it to JPC.
The government also accepted it because the political message that BJP wanted to give was lost, that is, the opposition’s protest is also political, and the government’s step is also measured. But I believe that necessary changes should be made in the Waqf Act and should be made quickly. I will tell you why I am saying this. The changes that Congress made in the Waqf Act in 2013, the more powers given to the Waqf Board, resulted in the number of Waqf properties increasing from four lakh seventy nine thousand to more than eight and a half lakh. Understand how this happened. Last year in Gujarat, the government ran a bulldozer to clear the encroachments on government land near the sea in Dwarka. At that time, a total of 142 properties were registered as Waqf in Jamnagar and Dwarka. A shrine was built on the land of a farmer named Bhima, but that land was registered as Waqf property. Legally, no action could be taken on it. Therefore, the bulldozer was not run on that shrine. After this, people adopted this formula. In the last two years, 341 new properties were registered in the Waqf Board while applications for more than five hundred properties are still pending. Similarly, the Annapurna temple in Lucknow is registered as a temple in the revenue records of 1962 but in 2016 it was declared a Waqf property. There are not just one but thousands of such cases and disputes at many religious places lead to religious conflicts. Therefore, there is a need for a change in the law to stop such arbitrariness and the government should not keep this matter hanging for vote. (Rajat Sharma)
Watch: ‘Aaj Ki Baat, Rajat Sharma Ke Saath’ full episode of August 08, 2024
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