AIMIM MP Asaduddin Owaisi addresses during a protest by the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) against the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi on Monday, March 17, 2025.
| Photo Credit: Shiv Kumar Pushpakar
The Opposition parties, led by the Congress, on Monday (March 17, 2025) lent their voice to the All India Muslim Personal Law Board’s last-ditch attempt to foil the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2024.
The Board organised a protest to draw attention to what it called “a clear attempt to intimidate Muslims” and “take away the rights granted to them by Articles to 12 to 35 of the Constitution”. Most Opposition parties, including the Congress, Trinamool Congress, Aam Aadmi Party, Communist Party of India, CPI (Marxist), CPI (Marxist–Leninist), Nationalist Congress Party, and the Indian Union Muslim League were represented at the protest.
Significantly, the Biju Janata Dal joined hands with the Opposition at the meet. The BJP’s allies, notably the Telugu Desam Party, Janata Dal (United) and Lok Janshakti Party, stayed away.
Leading the attack was All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief Asaduddin Owaisi who launched a tirade against BJP allies, the TDP and JD(U), for supporting the government on the Waqf issue. “We are raising questions on Chandrababu Naidu, Chirag Paswan sahib, and Nitish Kumar. Remember, if you support this unconstitutional Bill at this critical time, Muslims will never forgive you. Your support will enable this law,” Mr. Owaisi said before pointing out some alleged fundamental anomalies in the Bill.
“If non-Sikhs cannot be members of gurdwaras and non-Hindus cannot be part of temple trusts, how can non-Muslims be included in Waqf boards,” Mr. Owaisi asked. The Bill introduces the entry of non-Muslims on the Waqf which can in some cases even translate to a non-Muslim majority in the Waqf board.
“I am here to support you. They want to usurp Muslim properties. We will do all we can to defeat this Bill,” said Mohammed Jawaid, the Congress’s Kishanganj MP, adding, “The law they want to pass, is totally unconstitutional, hence everyone is worried. It is a responsible organisation [AIMPLB], on which there is a lot of pressure from the society, hence they are protesting to let the government know about their pain.”
Incidentally, Mr. Jawaid was a member of the Joint Parliamentary Committee on Waqf Bill, which submitted its findings to the Speaker last month. His colleague, former Union Minister Salman Khurshid alerted the gathering that the “struggle would be long” and require efforts ‘both inside the Parliament and the judiciary”.
Samajwadi Party MP Muhibullah Nadvi echoed the sentiments, stating, “The Bill is an interference in Muslim matters. People of all religions are allowed to run their endowment boards but an attempt is being made to weaken the Waqf Boards. It will endanger the Muslim properties in the years to come.” His party colleague Dharmendra Yadav too talked of being “ready to resist the Bill at all cost”.
The participation of leading Muslim bodies, the Jamaat-e-Islami Hind and Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind, represented by their chiefs, lent the protest greater acceptance among the community. “Waqf grants Muslims the same rights that other religions enjoy over their institutions. If every faith has the right to administer its affairs, why are Muslims being singled out,” said Syed Sadatullah Husaini, president of Jamaat-e-Islami Hind and vice-president of AIMPLB, adding, “Efforts are being made to suggest Muslims have been given special rights through the Waqf Act. The rights given to Muslims are identical to those given to other communities.”
Jamiat chief Mahmood Madani remarked, “Bulldozers are being used against our homes, mosques and madrasas. Now an attempt is being made to bulldoze the Constitution. It is no longer about the Muslim community. The Waqf Bill is an attack on the Constitution.”
“The protest marks the beginning of a countrywide protest,” the AIMPLB president, Khalid Saifullah Rehmani summed up.
Published – March 17, 2025 08:38 pm IST