LS passes Waqf bill as NDA, Oppn spar in stormy debate

The Lok Sabha on Wednesday approved amendments to the central waqf law, which aims to make sweeping changes in the regulation and management of Islamic charitable endowments, accords more power to the government, and allows for the appointment of non-Muslims and women to waqf boards, after overcoming a stiff challenge from the Opposition that alleged the bill was unconstitutional.

- Saubhadra Chatterji

The Waqf (Amendment) Bill was passed in the Lower House after a marathon 12-hour debate.

The government aims to bring the bill in the Rajya Sabha on Thursday.

Union home minister Amit Shah and minority affairs minister Kiren Rijiju led the charge from the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), which also put up a show of unity with all key allies backing the contentious legislation.

Making an intervention during the debate, Shah said if there was no amendment to the Waqf Act in 2013, there would have been no need to bring this bill.

"Elections were due in 2014 and in 2013, the extreme Waqf law was made overnight for the purpose of appeasement. As a result, 123 properties in Delhi's Lutyens zone were handed over to the Waqf just 25 days before the elections," he said.

He also said that non-Muslims in the Waqf bodies - one of the most controversial changes proposed by the bill - were meant purely for ensuring administration of properties.

"A delusion is being created in Muslim brothers that the bill is about interfering with the property they have donated. This is a huge misconception being spread, and by scaring Muslims, they (the Opposition) are building a vote bank," Shah said.

"It is the resolve of the Modi government that no citizen of this country, irrespective of his religion, will be harmed," he added.

The government also brought The Mussalman Wakf (Repeal) Bill, 2024, which repealed the 1923 law that sought to improve the management of waqf property and ensure accountability.