Oppose Wakf Amendment Bill, Muslim organisations urge CM

 Vijayawada : Various Muslim organisations staged a protest against the Wakf Amendmen Bill to be tabled in Parliament this session and appealed to Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu not to support the Wakf Bill.

The speakers at Maha Dharna said that Muslims would suffer huge loss with the passing of the Bill in Parliament.

All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) president Khalid Saifullah Rahmani called upon the people of the country to resist the Waqf Amendment Bill and termed it unconstitutional. Rahmani along with the Muslim leaders of various organisations participated at the protest at the Dharna Chowk here on Saturday. The protest was in response to the call given by AIMPLB.

Saifullah has questioned how the registration documents of mosques and madrasas, which have existed for hundreds of years, could be found. He stated that since such records do not exist, religious properties are granted legal recognition under the ‘By User’ rule. However, this Bill aims to abolish such provisions and allows the government to take control of these properties.

He further alleged that State governments have already encroached upon lakhs of acres of Waqf land and that this new law is designed to weaken the Waqf system through several illogical amendments.

AIMPLB general secretary Fazlur Rahim Mujaddidi emphasised that the protection of Waqf properties is a matter of faith for the Muslim community.

He stated that they would explain the potential losses caused by this Bill to Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu and pointed out that despite five crore emails being sent by Muslims to the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) opposing the Bill, there has been no response. He also mentioned that Muslims across the country wore black bands yesterday as a mark of protest and strongly condemned inappropriate remarks made by the JPC Chairman.

M M Khan, vice-president of JIH, criticised Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu for blindly supporting Modi’s unconstitutional policies. He warned that supporting this Bill would make Naidu a part of history’s dark chapters and a destroyer of the nation’s future.

Khan clarified that this Bill does not harm only Muslims but also takes away the power of State governments to frame Waqf regulations, as per the Waqf Act of 1995 and its 2013 amendment. He urged Chandrababu Naidu to oppose the Bill publicly if he truly considers the NDA government a secular entity.

AIMPLB spokesperson S Q R Ilyas expressed hope that TDP, as a secular party and an NDA ally, would not support the Bill. He reminded Chandrababu Naidu that if he truly wants to protect Waqf properties, as he stated during the recent Iftar party, he must oppose the Bill. He warned that if Naidu supports the Bill, it will be seen as backing BJP’s communal agenda, and Muslims will withdraw their support to TDP in the future. He also urged Muslim members within TDP to recognise the gravity of the situation.

Maulana Muhammad Fazlur Rahim Mujaddidi, general secretary, AIMPLB, Qasim Rasool Ilyas, spokesperson, AIMPLB, Malik Muhtashim Khan, vice-president, JIH, Maulana Mufti Yusuf, Majlis-e-Ulama, Andhra Pradesh and others participated in the protest.