New Delhi:
A joint parliamentary committee has voted in favor of 14 alterations to the draft version of the WAQF Amendment Bill, which had been introduced in the Lok Sabha in August last year and seeks to make 44 contentious changes to the way they are managed. Muslim charitable properties in the country.
The 14 alternations include distinguishing between the two mandatory non-Muslim members, as specified in the original draft of the bill, and nominated Exicio members (Muslim or non-Muslim).
This means that WAQF councils, whether at the state or Indian level, will have at least two, and possibly more (if the nominated Officio members are also non-Muslims) not from the Islamic faith.
Another key change is directing an officer nominated by the state concerned to determine whether a property is ‘waqf’. In the original draft, this decision was left to the district collector.
A third change is establishing that the law will not apply retrospectively, as long as the property in question is already registered. To this point, Congress leader and JPC member Imran Masood raised a red flag, pointing out that about 90 per cent of WAQF properties are, in fact, not registered.
Read | WAQF Amendment Bill Authorized by JPC, 14 Amendments Passed
These changes, and the 11 others, were proposed by members of the ruling BJP, including Lok Sabha MPs Nishikant Dubey, Tejasvi Surya and Aparajita Sarangi.
Among the other 11 is a change, introduced by Mr. Surya, specifying that anyone wishing to donate land must “show or prove that they are practicing Islam for at least five years” and also recognizing “…there is no invention involved in the dedication of said property.”
Overall, MPs from the ruling party and allies made 23 proposals to alter the WAQF (Amendment) Bill. Opposition parliamentarians made 44 proposals, none of which were accepted.
NDTV explains | Women, non-Muslims, council cannot claim land: Waqf changes
But the opposition proposals were rejected by a vote of 10:16 after committee members voted along party lines; The JPC has 16 MPs from BJP or allied parties and only 10 from the opposition.
The vote to confirm acceptance of the 14 changes will take place on January 29, and the final report will be submitted by January 31, sources told NDTV.
The committee had originally been asked to submit the report by Nov. 29, but that deadline was extended to Feb. 13, the last day of the budget session.
The changes in WAQF laws, sources told NDTV earlier, are aimed at empowering Muslim women who “suffered” under the old law. However, critics, including Trinamool leader Kalyan Banerjee and Aimim chief Asaduddin Owaisi (both JPC members), have called it a “direct attack on freedom of religion”.
Read | Opposition targets non-Muslim provision in ‘draconian’ waqf bill
Meanwhile, Mr Owaisi and Kanimozhi of the DMK have also argued that it violates multiple sections of the Constitution, including Article 15 (the right to practice a religion of one’s choice) and Article 30 (the right to minority communities to establish and manage their educational institutions).
The Wakf Act, 1995 was passed to regulate ‘Auqaf’ (assets donated and notified as WAQF) by a ‘wakif’ (the person who dedicates the property). The legislation was last amended in 2013.
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