’You’re enemy of Muslims’: Asaduddin Owaisi slams Modi govt over Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2024

Hyderabad Member of Parliament (MP) Asaduddin Owaisi, said on Thursday that the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2024, is discriminatory and arbitrary. Owaisi said that by bringing the bill, Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government was dividing the nation.

"This bill violates the principles of Articles 14, 15 and 25 of the Constitution. This bill is both discriminatory and arbitrary. By bringing this bill, you (the Central govt) are dividing the nation, not uniting it. This bill is an evidence of the fact that you are an enemy of the Muslims," Owaisi, the AIMIM MP, said while speaking on the bill in Lok Sabha.

Union Minority Minister Kiren Rijiju moved the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2024, in the Lok Sabha on August 8. The bill proposes to amend the Waqf Act, 1995, and seeks to ‘effectively’ address issues related to the powers of the State Waqf Boards, Central Waqf Coucil, registration and survey of Waqf properties, and removal of encroachments.

Opposition parties in the INDIA bloc, including the Congress, the Samajwadi Party (SP), the DMK and NCP (SCP), opposed the bill.

The main points that the INDIA bloc members oppose include giving powers to the district collector and bringing non-Muslims on board the state waqf boards (SWBs) and central waqf council (CWC).

With over 40 amendments, the new bill proposes to revoke several clauses in the existing Waqf Act, 1995 – the law governing Waqf boards. Among other changes, the bill pitches for far-reaching changes in the present Act, including ensuring the representation of Muslim women and non-Muslims in central and state Waqf bodies.

Opposition parties have demanded that the Bill be sent to Parliament's standing committee for scrutiny after it is introduced. The government told the Business Advisory Committee that it would take a call after assessing the sense of Lok Sabha.