Samajwadi Party chief and Kannauj MP Akhilesh Yadav on Monday said that his party will oppose the Centre's move to curb the powers of the Waqf Board. "BJP has no work except Hindu-Muslim or how to snatch the rights of Muslim brothers. The rights they have got, the right to freedom or the right to follow their religion, and the right to maintain their working system. We will oppose it," the former UP chief minister said.
India Today on Sunday reported that the central government is all set to bring a Bill in Parliament to amend the 1995 law governing Waqf Boards. Sources said the government will amend the Wakf Act to ensure more accountability and transparency in the functioning of Waqf Boards and mandatory inclusion of women in these bodies. The amendment Bill will make it mandatory for Waqf Boards to register their properties with district collectors to ensure their actual valuation
Reacting to reports, AIMIM President Asaduddin Owaisi on Sunday said the NDA government wants to take away the autonomy of the waqf board. He said the proposed amendments, as per reports, show that the Modi government wants to take away the autonomy of the Waqf Board. "It wants to interfere ... how to run waqf property. That itself is against freedom of religion," he told reporters.
If any amendments are made in the establishment and composition of waqf boards, there will be "administrative chaos" and the waqf board will lose its autonomy, the Hyderabad MP said. The proposed amendments indicate that government officials would conduct a survey of a disputed property instead of the matter being adjudicated in a court. If the survey is conducted by a BJP government, its outcome would be to say the property is not a waqf property, Owaisi alleged.
"All in all, if the media reports are true, the Modi government wants to take away waqf board's properties from Muslims," he said. The allies of BJP have to think whether they want the waqf properties of Muslims to be taken away, he cautioned.
The All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) also reacted sharply, saying any interference with the legal status and the powers of the Waqf boards will not be tolerated. The AIMPLB also urged allies of the NDA and opposition parties to "completely reject any such move" and not allow such amendments to be passed in Parliament.
AIMPLB's SQR Ilyas said the board appeals to all Muslims and their religious and Milli organisations to unite against this "malicious act of the government". The board will take all kinds of legal and democratic measures to thwart this move, he said in a statement.
"The All India Muslim Personal Law Board deems it necessary to make it clear that any change in the Wakf Act, 2013 which alters the nature of Waqf properties or makes it easier for the government or any individual to usurp the same will not be acceptable," Ilyas said, adding that reducing or restricting the powers of Waqf Boards will not be tolerated.