Waqf Amendment Bill tabled in Lok Sabha, Congress accuses Centre of trying to defame minorities

The Waqf Amendment Bill, which seeks to curb the authority of waqf boards and allow greater government control over them, was tabled in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday.

Union Minority Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju, who tabled the bill, accused the Opposition of misleading citizens about the provisions of the proposed law.

The Congress, on the other hand, accused the government of trying to defame minority groups and divide society through the proposed amendments.

A waqf is a property dedicated to a religious, educational or charitable cause under Islamic law. In India, waqfs are governed under the Waqf Act, 1995. Each state has a waqf board led by a legal entity that is vested with the power to acquire, hold and transfer property. The Act was last amended in 2013.

The 2024 bill proposed to amend 44 sections of the 1995 Waqf Act. The amendments propose to allow waqf boards to be controlled by the government to a greater degree, allow non-Muslims to be members of the boards, restrict the donation of properties and change how waqf tribunals function.

After tabling the bill, Rijiju said that Opposition MPs had earlier claimed that waqf boards control the third largest pool of properties in the country after the railways and defence departments.

“I want to correct this perception,” he said. “The...

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