New Delhi: Muslim scholars have praised the Centre’s Waqf (Amendment) Bill, which aims to address deficiencies and improve the efficiency of Waqf property administration and management. They claim that it will benefit the community.
Following a gathering of religious leaders and preachers in the national capital on Thursday to debate the Bill, Muslim preacher Mohammad Kasmin told IANS that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is making decisions for the country’s lowest-ranking citizens.
He stated that Waqf properties are for downtrodden Muslims. However, throughout the previous 70 years, political parties and some Muslim leaders have done a lot of damage to Waqf. Prime Minister Modi’s decisions benefit oppressed people, allowing them to progress alongside the country. Keeping this in mind, the bill has been introduced, Kasmin added.
“We support this (bill) and appeal to the Muslims in the country not to look at this bill with a negative view; they should raise questions after reading it,” he said.
He said Jamiat Ulema is a 100-year-old Muslim organisation with two offices on Waqf land. “In such a situation, why will the Jamiat Ulema support the amendment?”
Regarding the amendments proposed in the bill, Kasmin said the changes happening in the Waqf Board are “very wonderful.” He said, “All Muslims across the country will benefit from this. I hope that Muslims will understand this and will stay away from the political parties that are spreading confusion about the bill. ”
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Religious leader Tahir Ismail, who was also present in the meeting, told IANS the government’s intentions should not be doubted and the way some people are occupying the Waqf Board’s land in every district, they should be removed. The poor Muslims should be given that land. The way hospitals and colleges should have been constructed on Waqf lands were not built, he said.
Now, everything seems to be on the right path. He added that any Muslim who has a problem with the bill should put his point before the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC).
According to Ismail, the rights of the Waqf Board have only been misused in the past. “Those who were really entitled to the land did not get that land. The (Waqf) properties at prime locations have been either occupied by mafias, or the Waqf Board has made them (mafias) its tenants,” he said, adding that the amendment will create some balance now. Those who are actually entitled to these properties will get the benefit. The bill is in the national interest and also for Muslims’ benefit, he said.
Muslim scholar Nazia Hussain said that Prime Minister Modi, who backs women’s participation in the Waqf Board, is absolutely right and women should participate actively in the board.
She told IANS that the way the Waqf Board Bill is being amended is very important. “Nothing has happened in it for the last 70 years. Only a few people have benefited. This bill should be passed. Muslim women should participate actively in it and put forward their problems. Those who were handling the board till now did nothing. If they had done their work properly, perhaps this amendment would not have been needed today.”
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