Amit Shah explained that non-Muslim members in the board will have a limited role, focusing only on administrative matters, not religious affairs.
NEW DELHI: Union Home Minister Amit Shah addressed concerns regarding the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, making it clear that non-Muslim members of the Waqf Board will have no role in managing religious affairs. He criticized opposition leaders for spreading false information about the bill, emphasizing that it does not interfere with the religious practices of any community.
Amit Shah strongly rejected claims that including non-Muslims in the Waqf Board means interference in Waqf matters. He stated that these allegations are baseless and misleading. The main purpose of the bill, he explained, is to ensure transparency and prevent the mismanagement of Waqf properties.
He clarified, “All the arguments about the inclusion of non-Muslims are about interference in the Waqf. First of all, no non-Muslim would come into the Waqf. Understand this clearly… There is no such provision to include any non-Muslim among those who manage the religious institutions; we do not want to do this.”
Shah accused the opposition of spreading misconceptions to create fear among minorities for political gain, saying, “This misconception is being spread to instill fear among minorities for their vote bank.“
He further explained that non-Muslim members in the board will have a limited role, focusing only on administrative matters, not religious affairs.
“Their (non-Muslim members) job is not to interfere in the religious matters. Their job is to monitor if the administration of the Waqf law and funds given for donations is running smoothly or not.”
Amit Shah highlighted the bill’s aim to ensure that Waqf properties and donations are used correctly.
“The (non-Muslim) members will monitor whether the administration is running as per law or not, and whether the donations are being used for what they were intended (for Islam religion, for development of poor etc) or not.”
He assured the Muslim community that the law does not allow non-Muslims to interfere in Waqf matters.
“Through this House, I would like to tell Muslims of the country that not even one non-Muslim would come into your Waqf. This Act has no such provision.”
The focus of the Waqf Board and Waqf Council, according to him, will be to prevent illegal activities related to Waqf properties.
“But what would the Waqf Board and Waqf Council do? To catch the people selling off Waqf properties and drive them out, to catch those who lease off their properties for 100 years in the name of Waqf. The income of Waqf is dropping, the income with which we have to do development for minorities and push them forward, that money is being stolen. Waqf Board and Council will catch that.”
Amit Shah also pointed out that people with grievances regarding Waqf property can now challenge issues in court. He blamed the Congress party for an amendment in 2013 that removed the option of going to court for land disputes related to Waqf.
“Those who have grievances can challenge this in court. In 2013, Congress committed the sin of keeping the grievances of those whose land was taken away outside the court’s jurisdiction.”
He criticized the Congress-led government for making the Waqf Act stricter in 2013 for political reasons before the 2014 elections.
“Had Waqf not been amended in 2013, this (Amendment Bill) Bill would not have been needed. Everything was going well. But there were elections in 2014, and overnight in 2013, the Waqf Act was turned extreme for appeasement.”
He also accused Congress of handing over valuable properties in Delhi to Waqf right before the elections.
“As a result, Congress government handed over 123 VVIP properties in Lutyens Delhi to Waqf when elections were just round the corner.”
Union Minister Kiren Rijiju today spoke in Parliament about the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2024, explaining that the changes in the bill are meant to make the Waqf Board more secular, inclusive, and diverse.
He clearly said that the new amendment will allow people from different religious backgrounds and women to be part of the board.
He pointed out that currently there are no women members in the Central Waqf Council, which controls the Waqf Boards across India. But under this new bill, there will now be mandatory inclusion of two women, and up to four non-Muslim experts can also be added.
“At present, there are no women in the Waqf Board. Under the new amendment, Shias, Sunnis, Bohras, Agha Khanis, backward Muslims, women, and non-Muslim experts will all be represented,”
-he said.
To make it more relatable, Rijiju gave his own example. He explained how a non-Muslim like him, who is the Minority Affairs Minister, can still be the Chairman of the Central Waqf Council. This shows that even non-Muslims can be involved in Waqf matters for better representation.
“I’ll give my own example. Suppose I am not a Muslim but I am the Minority Affairs Minister. Then I become Chairman of the Central Waqf Council. Despite my position, there can be a maximum of four non-Muslim members in the Council, and among them, two women members are compulsory.”
He also explained why non-Muslims should be included in the Waqf Board. According to him, the Waqf Board is not the owner of any Waqf land or property but only acts as a manager or caretaker. He compared this to how even temple management is handled by non-Hindus in some court cases, saying that such duties are secular in nature.
“You should welcome everyone. There is no need for anyone to object,” Rijiju added.
Rijiju gave more information about the structure of the Central Waqf Council under the new law. The Council will now have 22 members, with not more than four being non-Muslims, and at least two of them must be women.
He also shared that the Council will have three ex-officio members, three MPs from different religious communities, and judges from the Supreme Court and High Courts. The State Waqf Boards will also be restructured in a similar way. Each board will have 11 members, and at least two of them must be Muslim women.
While responding to criticism from the opposition, especially the Congress party, Rijiju accused them of spreading false information just for political gain. He assured the public that the bill is not meant to harm Muslims or take away their rights.
“No land will be snatched under the Waqf bill.”
He dismissed the rumours and fears about the bill, firmly stating that Muslim rights and properties are safe under the new law.
“No land will be snatched under the Waqf bill.”
