Srinagar, Jan 30: As the deck for the NDA government to move the Waqf (Amendment) Bill during the Budget session of Parliament has been cleared, Peoples Democratic Party leader Waheed Parra said that the proposed bill is about “control, subjugation, and ensuring that Muslims no longer have even their religious endowments to fall back on.”
The Joint Parliamentary Committee on Waqf (Amendment) Bill 2024 on Wednesday adopted its report by a majority vote even as all 11 Opposition members moved dissent notes on the Bill.
A day after JPC approval Parra, who is legislative leader of the PDP, said this bill is not about transparency or efficiency.
“Muslims in India are already among the most marginalised communities….. Now, the BJP’s latest amendments to the Waqf Act signal yet another step in this relentless assault, this time targeting the very foundation of Muslim religious and charitable institutions. Under the definition of reform, these changes are an attempt to seize control of Waqf properties, further marginalising Muslims and tightening the government’s grip over their assets,” Parra said in a post on X.
“This attack is particularly damaging in Jammu and Kashmir, where the wounds of abrogating Article 370 and 35A and the state’s bifurcation are fresh. The Muslim leadership from Kashmir made it clear to the JPC that the community overwhelmingly rejects these amendments. Yet, their concerns were disregarded, exposing the BJP’s deep-seated contempt for democratic consensus. A law passed against the explicit will of the people, designed to undermine their institutions and way of life, is not governance—it is control,” he added.
Parra highlighted how the amendments pave the way for “mass land grabs” by eliminating “Waqf by User,” allowing bureaucrats to declare mosques, madrasas, graveyards, and other properties as non-Waqf for forcible takeover.
He added that the changes strip the Muslim community of control over their institutions, with non-Muslim members imposed on Waqf Boards and decision-making shifted to state-appointed bureaucrats ensuring complete political control.
“Hindu religious trusts, Sikh Gurdwara Committees, and Christian institutions continue to function without such interference. This targeting of Waqf alone is nothing but another BJP scheme to weaken Muslim self-governance,” he said.
The PDP MLA said this is part of a “larger pattern”—Jammu and Kashmir, the only Muslim-majority state in the Indian federal structure, has already seen its special status revoked, its land and resources taken, and its voices silenced.
“Now, the same playbook is being used against minorities across India. What we are witnessing is a full-scale control on Muslims—economic, political, and religious—designed to leave them landless, voiceless, and powerless in their own country,” he said.
“This bill is not about transparency or efficiency—it is about control, subjugation, and ensuring that Muslims no longer have even their religious endowments to fall back on. In Jammu and Kashmir and across India, the writing on the wall is clear: this is not just an attack on Waqf, it is an attack on the rights of every Muslim,” he added.
UNI
Leave a Reply