“First They Came for The Jews…”: The Waqf Amendment Bill 2024

Parliament recently passed the Waqf (Amendment) Bill and renamed the original Act as ‘Unified Waqf Management, Empowerment, Efficiency and Development Act, or UMEED Act. Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi stated that after this the religious properties of other communities will be targeted. He was on the dot as, immediately after the passage of the Bill, the RSS mouthpiece Organiser published an article about the property of the Catholic Church. Though it immediately withdrew the article, the message was loud and clear.

One Jharkhand minister expressed her anguish that in a similar way RSS-BJP will target the Adivasi properties. Who will be in line next? During the debate on the bill the non-BJP NDA allies like Nitish Kumar, Chandrababu Naidu, Chirag Paswan and Jayant Chaudhary also fell in line with the BJP and betrayed the Muslim community in the worst possible way. Had they any principles of pluralism they could very well have stopped the bill from passing. As Pastor Martin Niemoller’s classic anguish shows the methods of Fascists is to target one group at a time with the help of others and then, by and by, crush the other communities. The case of Catholic Bishops is also similar: they have enthusiastically supported Waqf Amendment Bill, but tragically they may be the next targets. They are a strange group, deeply infested by Islamophobia and so, in a shortsighted manner, they are supporting the communal strategies.

Waqf is a property donated by Muslims (even others can donate) for religious purposes. India has vast property which comes under this provision. While claims are that Waqf is the third largest property owner in the country but as such, Hindu trusts and temples have much more property. The present amendments in the Waqf Act are totally dictated by the Hindu nationalist agenda to diminish the control of Muslims in the Waqf Board.

The control of Hindu temples and trusts are exclusively in the hands of Hindus. Now Waqf, in contrast, will have non-Muslims on the Board and the district collector will be the main authority in issues related to ownership of the property. The contrast between the ownership of Hindu trusts and Waqf is absolutely partisan, and the Government is determined to undermine the authority of Muslims in these matters.

The minority affairs minister Kiren Rijiju, in his speech introducing the bill, said that the bill is being aimed at bettering the condition of poor Muslims. Waqf as such is for religious and social purposes. Poverty alleviation is the job of the Government, and this government in particular, has washed its hands off this responsibility. Be it Muslims or Hindus or poor from other communities, all Government policies are directed to serve the big Corporates.

If his logic is correct why not begin with the majority Hindu community? Our Hindu temples and trusts have astronomical wealth which can nurture many educational institutions, health facilities and support employment generation. Why is this Government, guided by RSS agenda of Hindu nation, not undertaking the task of ensuring that temple trust properties are used to help poor farmers, unemployed youth and other marginalized sections of society?

Kiren Rijiju was claiming that many poor Muslims have thanked him for undertaking this! Thousands of Muslims organizations have registered their opposition to this Amendment which BJP is imposing on the country to reduce the power of Muslim community. It is a warped argument that many poor Muslims have urged him to implement.

As far as democratic and secular values are concerned BJP cares the least about it. Its visible tears for the plight of Muslims in India will shame the crocodiles. It is Muslims who have been the worst victims of BJP’s coming to power in the centre. They are being beaten for offering Namaz on roads, being targeted for allegedly eating beef, being boycotted in Hindu festivals or on the pretext of Corona jihad or spitting jihad, among others. Despite the counter instructions from the Supreme Court the states are using bulldozers against Muslim properties.

Mr. Modi once put the Constitution to his forehead as a mark of respect. It was in the backdrop of campaigning for 2024 general elections when the INDIA coalition was carrying the Constitution as the major symbol of its campaign. For BJP, Constitution is a mere showpiece. In UP any body opposing the Waqf Bill will have to give a bond of Rs. 2 lakh. So much for our democratic freedoms in this regime!

The Waqf Amendment Bill totally violates the Indian Constitution in letter and spirit. P. Chidambaram summarizes it well “…Courts have recognized a waqf that was created by a non-Muslim, and examples are many. Further, under the existing law, a waqf is, by and large, independent and autonomous. The highest regulatory body in a State is the Board of Waqfs that consists of members who are all Muslims and the Chief Executive Officer is required to be a Muslim. The Board in exercise of its powers is required to “act in conformity with the directions of the waqf, the purposes of the waqf and any usage or custom of the waqf. The only body that has adjudicatory jurisdiction over waqf(s) is a Tribunal which is a judicial body presided over by a District Judge.”

 The bill introduced by BJP stands its spirit on the head and totally smashes its original purpose. This is one more step to intimidate and disempowered the Muslims. The question of corruption in the matters of Waqf is a serious matter. As the Anna-Kejriwal campaign for Jan Lokpal has demonstrated that such methods don’t work. What can remove the corruption from body politic of our institutions by making them more transparent and democratic. This applies not only to Waqf but also most of the religious organizations controlling wealth and land.

The jumping in of Organiser with the article on Catholic prosperities reminds us that those supporting the assault on Muslim community should not be under the illusion that they can save themselves by supporting the attacks on other minorities.

While protests among the Muslim community are picking up, all those believing in democratic and plural values need to support these, stand in solid unity with these. The turncoats, those who chose power and pelf for their selfish interests, stand exposed and hopefully the countrymen will rise up in the forthcoming elections and other campaigns to show them their place in the dustbin of our History.