Smriti Irani says amending Waqf Act ’need of the hour’ for Muslim community, ‘I would like to…’

Senior BJP leader Smriti Irani has lauded the introduction of an amended Waqf Bill and dubbed it ‘need of the hour’ for Muslims. The bill introduced in the Lok Sabha on Thursday and sparked outrage in the Opposition ranks. Union Minister Kiren Rijiju however insisted that the changes did not interfere with religious freedom or violate any provisions of the Constitution.

“I would like to express my gratitude to the government of India and PM Modi for introducing this historic Bill in the Parliament. Amending the Waqf act was the need of the hour for the Muslim community, especially for the women,” the former Union Minister told PTI.

Irani had lost her Amethi Lok Sabha seat to Congress leader Kishori Lal Sharma earlier this year by a margin of more than 1.5 lakh votes. Speculative reports have broached the possibility of the actor-turned-politician taking over the BJP leadership after JP Nadda joined the Modi 3.0 Cabinet.

The new Bill renames the Waqf Act from 1995 as the ‘Unified Waqf Management, Empowerment, Efficiency and Development Act’. It seeks to scrap a section relating to the powers of the board to decide if a property is Waqf property and streamlines the registration of Waqfs through a central portal and database.

It also provides for a broad-based composition of the Central Waqf Council and the state Waqf boards and ensures the representation of Muslim women and non-Muslims in such bodies. The bill also proposes the establishment of a separate board for the Boharas and Aghakhanis.

Opposition parties including the Congress, DMK, NCP, Trinamool Congress and AIMIM strongly opposed the introduction of the bill, saying its provisions were against federalism and the constitutional provisions. While some members demanded the withdrawal of the bill, many suggested that should be sent to a standing committee.

(With inputs from agencies)