Indian parliament passes controversial bill on Muslim waqf properties

Hind Al Soulia - Riyadh - NEW DELHI — The lower house of India's parliament has passed a controversial bill that seeks to change how properties worth billions of dollars donated by Indian Muslims over centuries are governed.

The Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2024 -- which brings in dozens of amendments to an existing law -- was passed late on Wednesday night after a heated debate that went on for over 12 hours.

The government says the bill will introduce transparency into the management of waqf, as the properties are called.

But opposition parties and Muslim groups have called it an attempt to weaken the constitutional rights of India's largest religious minority.

In the Lok Sabha, as the lower house is called, the bill was passed with 288 MPs voting in favor of it, and 232 against (the halfway mark is 272).

It has now been sent to the Rajya Sabha, or upper house, for discussion and passage.

If it is passed by the Rajya Sabha, it will be sent to President Droupadi Murmu for her assent before it becomes law.

The bill was first tabled in parliament in August last year but was sent to a joint parliamentary committee (JPC) after an outcry from opposition members. The version that has been passed incorporates several changes suggested by the sharply divided committee. Opposition members who were on the panel have alleged that the JPC accepted the changes suggested by the BJP and its allies while rejecting all amendments they proposed.

Mallikarjun Kharge, Congress MP and leader of the opposition in the Rajya Sabha, said the opposition was united and would work to defeat "the unconstitutional and divisive agenda of the Modi government on the Waqf Amendment Bill". But the numbers may not be in the opposition's favor.

Muslim groups have argued that the bill "aims to weaken the waqf laws and pave the way for the seizure and destruction of waqf properties".

Speaking in the Lok Sabha, Congress leader Gaurav Gogoi said the bill would "dilute the Constitution, defame minority communities, divide Indian society and disenfranchise minorities".

Federal Home Minister Amit Shah defended the bill, saying that the opposition was scaring minorities by creating "an illusion that this bill would interfere in the religious activities of Muslim brothers and in their donated property".

The waqf properties, which include mosques, madrassas, shelter homes and thousands of acres of land donated by Muslims, are managed by boards. Some of these properties are vacant while others have been encroached upon.

In Islamic tradition, a waqf is a charitable or religious donation made by Muslims for the benefit of the community. Such properties cannot be sold or used for any other purpose - which implies that waqf properties belong to God.

The government says that the waqf boards are among India's largest landholders. There are at least 872,351 waqf properties across India, spanning more than 940,000 acres, with an estimated value of 1.2 trillion rupees ($14.22bn; £11.26bn).

A major criticism from opponents of the bill is that it grants the government undue power to regulate the management of these endowments and determine whether a property qualifies as "waqf".

The bill also proposes the induction of two non-Muslim members on the waqf boards that oversee these properties. Critics have opposed this provision, arguing that most religious institutions run by non-Muslims do not permit followers of other faiths in their administration. — BBC