- The Parliament of India passed a controversial bill, which amends the laws that control Muslim land settlement by involving non-Muslims on boards that manage these assets and enhance government inspection.
- The government claims that changes aim to combat corruption and promote diversity, but critics argue that it reduces Muslim rights and can confiscate historical religious places.
- Muslim groups and opposition parties have expressed concern that the bill is politically motivated, and the ownership rules can marginalize Muslims and WAQF boards are required to validate the claims of the property.
The Parliament of India passed a controversial bill by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist government to amend laws controlling Muslim land settlements, while Muslim groups and opposition parties opposed the move.
The bill will add non-Muslims to the boards that manage the WAQF land settlement and play a big role in the government to validate their land holdings. The government says that changes will help in fighting corruption and mismanagement by promoting diversity, but critics fear that it will further reduce the rights of the country’s Muslim minority and may be used to seize historical mosques and other property.
The debate was heated in both houses of Parliament. The Lower House debated it on Wednesday in early Thursday, while in the upper house, the fierce discussion lasted more than 16 hours in early Friday.
The Congress -led protest strongly opposed the proposal, called it unconstitutional and discriminatory against Muslims. Modi’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party lacks majority in the lower house, but its colleagues helped pass the bill.
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In the lower house, 288 members voted for the bill, while 232 were against it. Similarly, 128 favored it and 95 voted against it in the upper house. The bill will now be sent to President Draupadi Murmu to give consent to become a law.
Raza Academy members raised slogans in Mumbai, India, to condemn the Waqf Amendment Bill, which was passed on Thursday, the lower house of the Parliament of India, Thursday, April 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Rajnish Kakde)
Minority Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju introduced a bill to change the 1995 law, which sets rules for foundation and set up a state-level board to administer them.
Many Muslim groups, as well as opposition parties say the proposal is discriminatory, politically motivated and Modi’s ruling party is an attempt to weaken minority rights.
The bill was first introduced in Parliament last year, and opposition leaders have said that some subsequent proposals were ignored. The government has said that opposition parties are using rumors to discredit them and block transparency in the management of settlement.
What is Waqf?
Waqf is a traditional type of Islamic charitable foundation in which a donor permanently separates property – often but always not real estate – for religious or charitable purposes. Waqf properties cannot be sold or moved.
Waqf in India controls 872,000 properties that cover 405,000 hectares (1 million acres) land, an estimated $ 14.22 billion. Some of these settlements are before centuries, and many are used for mosques, seminars, cemeteries and orphanages.
The law will change that runs the waqf
In India, the WAQF assets are managed by semi-official boards, running another federal union region for each state. The law will require to appoint non-Muslims in boards.
Currently, the WAQF boards are staffed by Muslims, such as identical bodies that help administer other religious charitables.
During the parliamentary debate, Home Minister Amit Shah said that non-Muslims will be included in Waqf boards only for the purposes of the administration and will help in running the endowment smoothly. He said that he was not there to intervene in religious matters.
He said, “(Non-Muslim) members will monitor whether the administration is running according to the law or not, and whether donations are being used whether they were intended or not,” he said.
Like the All India Muslim Personal Law Board, Muslim groups said that such comments were against the basic principles of Islamic settlement, such as such bodies only needed to be controlled by Muslims. The board stated that the bill was “a clear violation of the constitutional rights of Muslim citizens” and called upon the citizens to hit the streets against it.
Congress President Mallikrajun Kharge said, “Why should Waqf bodies allow non-Muslims as members when Hindu temple trusts did not allow people of other religions to be allowed in their folds?”
One of the most controversial changes is for ownership rules, which can affect historical mosques, temples and cemetery, as many such qualities lack formal documents because they were donated without legal records decades, and even centuries ago.
Questions about the title
Other changes can affect mosques on the land organized in centuries -old Waqf.
Radical Hindu groups have claimed several mosques around India, arguing that they are built on the ruins of important Hindu temples. Many such cases are pending in courts.
The law will require approval from a district level officer from Waqf boards to confirm the claims of Waqf for the property.
Critics say this will weaken the board and Muslims can be taken away from their land. It is not clear how many times the boards will be asked to confirm such claims for the land.
“Waqf (Amendment) Bill is a weapon aimed at marginalizing Muslims and fulfilling their personal laws and property rights,” The main opposition leader, social media platform X wrote on the social media platform X, Rahul Gandhi said that he said that the bill was “an attachment to Muslims” by the BJP and its allies, “
Religious division of India continues among Muslim, Hindu community
Fear between Muslims
While many Muslims agree that Waqf is suffering from corruption, encroachment and poor management, they also fear that the new law may give more control over Muslim property to the Hindu nationalist government of India, especially at a time when attacks against minority communities have become more aggressive under Modi, often everything is targeted for their food and clothes style with Muslims.
Last month, the US Commission on American International Religious Freedom said in its annual report that the situation of religious freedom in India deteriorated, while Modi and his party propagated “disgusting rhetoric and disintegration against Muslims and other religious minorities” during last year’s election campaign.
Modi’s government says that India is run on democratic principles of equality and there is no discrimination in the country.
Muslims, who are 14% of India’s 1.4 billion population, are the largest minority groups in the Hindu-Bahumat nation, but they are also the poorest, found in a government survey of 2013.
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