The Indian parliament has handed a invoice introducing sweeping modifications to legal guidelines governing Islamic charitable belongings, triggering sharp opposition and accusations of state overreach.
The Narendra Modi administration says the reforms to the system of Waqf properties – spiritual and charitable belongings ruled underneath Islamic legislation – will deal with bureaucratic gaps, make clear possession disputes, enhance transparency and cut back encroachments on public land. Critics, nevertheless, say it’s a thinly-veiled try to seize Muslim-controlled properties, weaken the autonomy of the nation’s 200 million-strong Muslim minority and improve state oversight of spiritual belongings.
Waqf refers to property donated for spiritual or charitable functions underneath Islamic legislation. As soon as declared Waqf, possession is transferred from a person to Allah, and the asset turns into inalienable, managed by a trustee for the good thing about the group.
The Waqf (Modification) Invoice 2024 was handed on Thursday after a 12-hour debate within the decrease home with 288 votes in favour and 232 towards, and later sailed by the higher home with 128 ayes and 95 nays.
Modi referred to as its passage a “watershed second in our collective quest for socio-economic justice, transparency and inclusive development”.
The apply of Waqf has its roots in Islamic traditions and was formalised throughout British rule through the Non secular Endowments Act of 1863, which allowed spiritual communities to handle their properties. The present framework stems from the Waqf Act of 1995, which established central and state Waqf Boards to manage and shield these belongings, together with mosques, madrasas, graveyards, hospitals, and faculties. Many such properties are centuries outdated and of cultural and historic significance.
“This can significantly assist those that have lengthy remained on the margins,” Modi posted on X (previously Twitter).
However opposition leaders slammed the invoice as an assault on democratic values and non secular freedoms.
Some of the contentious modifications is the elimination of the “Waqf by person” clause. This provision presently permits properties to be deemed Waqf based mostly on their long-standing spiritual use, even within the absence of formal documentation – a crucial safeguard for older properties predating trendy information.
“Waqf by person means a property turns into Waqf by long-term possession and use,” defined opposition MP Asaduddin Owaisi. “Properties from centuries in the past had been hardly ever documented, but they’ve served spiritual functions for generations.”
The present act permits Waqf creation by three routes: formal declaration, endowment after the top of a succession line, or by recognition of spiritual use over time. The brand new invoice restricts this: solely Muslims who’ve practiced for at the very least 5 years and personal the property can declare it Waqf. The elimination of the “person” provision disqualifies undocumented properties from Waqf standing.
The invoice transfers possession willpower to a state-appointed collector if the land is disputed – eradicating this energy from the Waqf Board itself.
“The federal government says disputed land will now be assumed to be authorities property, and it’ll be the collector’s choice. That’s towards pure justice,” Owaisi tells The Impartial. “How will you be a decide in your personal case?”
Critics argue the transfer may undermine spiritual establishments and dispossess communities. “These properties assist numerous faculties, hospitals and welfare tasks serving Muslims,” mentioned Rasheed Ahmed, govt director of the Indian American Muslim Council. “Elevated state management will deprive susceptible populations of important assist and strip the group of its capability to handle socio-economic inequality.”
“The goal is evident,” Ahmed continued. “To take management of Waqf establishments and dilute Muslim authority. It undermines spiritual autonomy and the very goal of Waqf.”
The federal government argues that the invoice addresses systemic points comparable to mismanagement, corruption, and encroachments. BJP MP Jagdambika Pal mentioned the invoice adopted in depth consultations with stakeholders, together with Muslim organisations, and described it as “historic” and helpful for poor Muslims.
Pal cited longstanding structural flaws in Waqf Boards – comparable to political appointments, weak monetary oversight and bureaucratic bottlenecks – and referred to as for skilled administration, judicial oversight, and common audits.
“In contrast to in some Islamic international locations the place Waqf is strictly spiritual and state-controlled, India’s mannequin consists of statutory and judicial oversight,” famous Anas Tanwir, Advocate on Document on the Supreme Court docket and founding father of the Indian Civil Liberties Union. “Waqf Boards have authorized energy to cease encroachments, however enforcement is poor and courts usually should intervene.”
“The problem is putting a stability between spiritual autonomy and state regulation,” he added, “particularly when secular legal guidelines conflict with the waqf’s perpetual nature.”
Unlawful encroachment of Waqf land is effectively documented. However Ahmed mentioned the invoice will increase the danger of presidency acquisition underneath the guise of public curiosity or improvement. “This transfer displays a harmful sample the place waqf lands could possibly be handed over to personal firms or government-aligned pursuits.”
The All India Muslim Private Regulation Board (AIMPLB), which represents Muslim pursuits on private legislation issues, echoed these considerations.
“The invoice doesn’t enhance the governance of Waqf Boards,” mentioned AIMPLB spokesperson Qasim Rasool Ilyasi. “It’s anti-constitutional, violates basic rights, and suits into the broader communal agenda of the ruling social gathering.”
Modi’s minister for parliamentary and minority affairs, Kiren Rijiju, launched the invoice within the decrease home and renamed it “UMEED” (Unified Administration, Empowerment, Effectivity, and Growth). He dismissed the priority for minorities voiced by the opposition in parliament.
“Some members say minorities should not secure in India. That’s utterly false,” he mentioned after the talk. “There is no such thing as a place safer than India for minorities. Minorities from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan got here right here after spiritual persecution,” he added, referring to Hindus coming to India from these international locations. “How will you say minorities are unsafe?”
Rijiju tried to allay fears in parliament, saying: “No land might be snatched underneath the Waqf Invoice.” He accused the opposition of “spreading rumours” and insisted the invoice would profit all.
Ilyas mentioned the federal government bypassed these almost certainly to be affected – Muslims themselves – through the formation of the brand new legislation. “We weren’t consulted through the invoice’s drafting. We despatched 50 million emails with solutions. Nothing was thought-about. Adjustments proposed by opposition MPs had been all rejected. This isn’t how democracy works.”
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After the BJP’s failure to win an outright majority within the 2024 normal elections, Modi – reliant for the primary time on coalition companions – despatched the Waqf Invoice to a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC), a departure from his typical strongman type.
But regardless of vital opposition enter, the JPC cleared the invoice with few amendments.
“We gave our illustration to the JPC,” mentioned Ilyas. “However nothing was accepted. The method was totally one-sided.”
Pal, chair of the JPC, denied this. “We referred to as AIMPLB earlier than the committee and regarded their considerations. Their inputs had been included within the report,” he advised The Print.
One other flashpoint is the proposed inclusion of non-Muslims within the administration of Waqf establishments.
Presently, all board members should be Muslim, with at the very least two girls, and embody elected representatives from the Muslim group in legislatures, native our bodies, and the Bar Council. The brand new invoice permits for the nomination of two non-Muslim members and allows state governments to appoint members, together with non-Muslim MPs, judges, and “eminent individuals.”
“Waqf is a purely Islamic charitable establishment,” mentioned Owaisi. “Now the federal government desires non-Muslims on all 31 state Waqf Boards. Is there any parity right here?”
He identified that spiritual boards governing Hindus, Sikhs, and Buddhists – just like the Hindu Non secular Endowments Boards of Tamil Nadu and Telangana, or the Sikh Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee – require members to belong to their respective faiths.
“This modification disregards that precedent,” Owaisi mentioned. “It’s not about illustration. It’s about management.”
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Rijiju, nevertheless, defends the modification saying: “We characterize all individuals of our constituency. How can we, then, ask how non-Muslims are being included in it? As a result of that is simply property administration; it isn’t about faith.”
One other contentious problem was the modifications to Waqf tribunals which had been established to resolve disputes associated to Waqf properties. Comprising a decide, a senior authorities official, and a Muslim legislation professional, the choice by the tribunal are legally binding however could be challenged in increased courts. The brand new invoice, nevertheless, reduces the tribunal’s powers and makes the Excessive Court docket the ultimate arbiter on Waqf disputes.
Moreover, the invoice modifications the composition of Waqf tribunals, changing the district decide appointed by the Excessive Court docket Chief Justice with a retired decide of the federal government’s selecting.
“When Chief Justice of the Excessive Court docket appoints a district decide to move the tribunal, he is underneath the executive management of the Chief Justice of the actual state excessive court docket,” Owaisi explains. “However, if he could be a retired decide, how will he be underneath the management of the chief justice of the Excessive Court docket?” he says, as allays doubt in regards to the independence of presidency appointed decide.
It additionally removes the choice to file a assessment petition in Excessive Courts, as a substitute forcing litigants to file prolonged appeals.
“That is designed to create an countless authorized maze that can profit these searching for to take over Waqf properties,” Owaisi warns. “The amendments to Waqf Invoice will result in grabbing of masjids, dargahs, Khankas, graveyards, every little thing.”
Ahmed argues that the invoice shouldn’t be an remoted transfer however a part of a broader, systematic effort by the Modi authorities to encroach upon the rights of Muslims. “This invoice suits squarely into the bigger agenda of dismantling the institutional autonomy of spiritual minorities and depriving them of their assets and affect.”
The invoice introduces 44 amendments to the present Waqf Act, 1995, however in response to Ilyas, “none of those modifications are geared toward safeguarding Waqf properties, rising their income, or addressing the issue of encroachment.”
The opposition Congress social gathering referred to as the invoice an “assault on the Indian structure”. In an announcement, Congress MP and spokesperson Jairam Ramesh mentioned the BJP was making an attempt to break “centuries-old bonds” of social concord and hold society in a state of “everlasting polarisation” for electoral features.
Congress mentioned the invoice was an try to “demonise minority communities” and “dilute constitutional provisions that assure equal rights and protections to all residents, no matter faith”. Akhilesh Yadav, the chief of one other main opposition outfit within the Samajwadi Social gathering, echoed these considerations, saying: “The BJP desires management over every little thing. This invoice is one more try to intervene in spiritual issues.”
Chinks additionally began to look within the BJP’s governing coalition. Just some hours earlier than the voting, Naveen Patkaik’s Biju Janata Dal, which is in alliance with BJP, advised its seven higher home MPs to “conscience vote”, including that they might not be certain by a whip and will vote for whichever aspect they wished.
Regardless of that the invoice sailed by each the homes of parliament late on Thursday, and now solely wants the assent of president Droupadi Murmu to develop into legislation.
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