According to reports, the National Democratic Alliance government led by the Bharatiya Janata Party will amend the Waqf Act to limit the powers of the Waqf Board and is preparing to submit the amendment to Parliament for consideration. Government sources said the upcoming legislation would only support Muslims in a bid to allay concerns among some in the minority community that the bill would disenfranchise minorities.
Sources familiar with the developments said many poor Muslims, especially Muslim women, have approached the government seeking justice. They also expressed how these properties were controlled by very powerful people and no one thought of the suffering of ordinary people.
The bill was first introduced in 1954 and amended in 1995 and 2013. Anyone can bring a lawsuit to the High Court.
“The government has no intention of taking these properties away from Muslims. Ultimately, these properties can only be used to benefit the Muslim community. What is being implemented is a systematic process so that the poorest can benefit,” a senior government source told Network 18.
Waqfs hold the third largest number of properties after land owned by government entities, including railways and defence. However, the income from these properties is not even close to the price of these properties. In fact, the annual revenue is not even Rs 200 crore. “There is a provision in the new law to draw a map of every property to the district collector so that the revenue can eventually be accounted for,” a source said. “Using technology and online mechanisms to register such properties will reduce any such errors.”
The Sahar Committee in its recommendations also talked about the need to map properties and their income. Government sources said this was another forward-thinking move against the final form of the bill. This time, only practicing members can sit on the board and have such attributes.
Some Muslim clerics and Muslim leaders have come out against the law. They also called the government anti-Muslim.
Government sources said many Muslims in the legal profession also called the bill “forward-looking reforms” and said it would break anarchic laws that offer no protection to the poor and deprived.
Government sources also said that parties like the Congress, which has ruled the country for the longest time, gifted 123 prime properties in the national capital to the Delhi Waqf Board in March 2014, just before the Lok Sabha.
Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said the primary rights to India's resources belong to minorities, especially Muslims. He further said during the establishment of the National Waqf Development Corporation Limited in 2014 that the properties under the Waqf Board can be used for socio-economic development and benefit the Muslim community. “Does the waqf board have any responsibility for the use of resources?” a government source said.
In 2022, an RTI response revealed that the AAP government led by Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had provided over Rs 101 crore in public funds to the Delhi Waqf Board since it came to power in 2015, with Rs 62.57 crore provided in 2021 alone.
Arvind Kejriwal in 2019 continued: “It is said that the residence of the richest man in the country is located in Mumbai, built on the real estate of a waqf. Am I right? The Mumbai government is concerned about this Nothing can be done. If it were our government, we would demolish this building.
Tamil Nadu's Waqf Board recently shocked villagers by claiming ownership of an entire village. There is also a 1,500-year-old Hindu temple in the village.
Jathlana village in Yamuna Nagar district of Haryana witnessed the overwhelming power of waqfs with a piece of land with a gurdwara (Sikh temple) being transferred to waqfs. There is no history of any Muslim settlements or mosques in this land.
In November 2021, the Surat Municipal Corporation headquarters at Muglisara was declared a religious and communal organization property. The logic given is that during the reign of Shah Jahan, the property had been donated by the emperor as a waqf property to his daughter and therefore, the claim remains reasonable even today, almost 400 years later.
In 2018, the Sunni Waqf Board said in the Supreme Court that the Taj Mahal is owned by the Almighty, but for practical purposes it must be classified as the property of the Sunni Waqf Board. When the Supreme Court asked for the document signed by Shah Jahan, the agency claimed that the monument belonged to the Almighty and although they did not sign the document, they had to acquire the rights to the property.
In 2022, the Uttar Pradesh Sunni Central Waqf Board claimed that the disputed property where the Gyanvyapi Masjid is now located was a waqf property. Lawyers for the temple rejected the claim in court.
A Shivalay in Lucknow was registered as a waqf property in collusion with the Uttar Pradesh Shia Central Waqf Board. Already established in 1908, this proposition developed further.
In 2021, the Waqf Board filed an application in the Gujarat High Court claiming ownership of two islands in Bet Dwarka in Devbhoomi Dwarka district. In 2022, the Gujarat High Court dismissed the plea.
In August 2014, the Wakf Board issued a notice to the Aurangabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) claiming ownership of a disputed piece of land near Jalna Road and urged it to stop the process of acquiring the land from another party for road widening .
In 2013, the Telangana Waqf board opposed the Hyderabad Municipal Corporation's acquisition of part of the land of the Banjara Hill Green Mosque in the city to widen the road. The board argued the land was the property of the religious organization.
In November 2018, a pilot program launched by the state government identified more than 1,700 new waqf properties in Pune and Parbhani districts alone, indicating the actual extent of waqf land Much larger than recorded.
In 2019, Minority Affairs Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi told the Lok Sabha in a written reply to a question by BJP MP Ajay Nishad, A total of 16,937 waqf properties have been encroached upon in the country, of which 5,610 properties have been encroached on in Punjab, the state with the highest encroachment rate in India.
In 2017, the Maharashtra government under the Bharatiya Janata Party suspended a former head of a Muslim organization responsible for land donations amid growing concerns over “waqf” used for religious or charitable purposes. Land and property were illegally sold to developers. A waqf is a donation of land or property by Muslims for religious, educational or charitable purposes. According to Indian law, it cannot be transferred or sold and must be used for community welfare.
In 2024, the Delhi High Court found unauthorized construction in the disputed waqf property. The high court flagged off issues related to a dispute over 123 properties over which the Delhi Waqf Board had filed a claim and which the Center had delisted.
In January 2024, the Waqf Board submitted a special petition to the Supreme Council claiming ownership of a portion of land in the Bhanpurpura area of Haldwani district in Nainital district, the Uttarakhand High Court has declared The lands belonged to the railroad.
The Abdullah government said in August 2014 that the Army owned more than 360 waqf lands with commercial value in the Poonch border area, while the Army paid rent for only 21 of these canals. The political capital of this influence, backed by local leaders, was so great that the army's priorities were put on hold to appease fundamentalists.
On Friday, the federal cabinet approved around 40 amendments to the Waqf Act. On Friday, the federal cabinet approved around 40 amendments to the Waqf Act. Wakf Boards owns approximately over 8.7 lakh properties with a total area of approximately 9.40 lakh acres. In 2013, the UPA government gave more powers to the Wakf Board by amending the original bill.
The Wakf Act, 1995, was enacted to regulate the 'auqaf' (assets donated and notified as wakf) of wakifs – persons who dedicate their property to any pious, religious or charitable purpose recognized by Muslim law.
