The Congress on Sunday slammed the BJP-led government at the Centre over the Waqf (Amendment) Bill 2024, saying the Bill is part of the saffron party’s strategy and attempts to “damage” bonds of social harmony.
The grand old party also said that the Bill is an “assault” on the Constitution.
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Congress General Secretary in-charge of Communications Jairam Ramesh said, “The Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2024, is part of the BJP’s strategy and continuing attempts to damage the centuries-old bonds of social harmony in our uniquely multi-religious society and demonise minority communities by spreading false propaganda and creating prejudices.”
He asserted that it is the strategy of the ruling BJP to dilute Constitutional provisions that guarantee equal rights and protection to all citizens, regardless of religion, and defame traditions and institutions of minority communities to keep the society in a state of permanent polarisation for electoral gains.
Calling the Bill “deeply flawed”, Ramesh said, “All the institutions created by previous laws to administer waqfs (national council, state boards, and tribunals) are actively sought to be reduced in stature, composition, and authority, deliberately depriving the community the right to administer its own religious traditions and affairs. Deliberate ambiguity has been introduced in determining who can donate their land for waqf purposes, thus altering the very definition of waqf itself.”
He claimed that the waqf-by-user concept, developed by the nation’s judiciary on the basis of long, continued, and uninterrupted customary usage, is being abolished.
“Provisions in the existing law are being removed without any reason just to weaken the administration of the waqf. Enhanced defences are now being introduced in the law to protect those who have encroached on waqf lands. Far-reaching powers have been given to the Collector and other designated state government officers on matters related to disputes concerning waqf properties as well as their registration,” the MP said in a statement.
He said the officers of the state governments will now have the powers to derecognise any waqf on anyone’s complaint or on a mere allegation of the waqf property being a government property till a final decision is taken.
“It bears recall that a 428-page report was literally bulldozed through the JPC without it ever having gone through a detailed clause-by-clause discussion. It thus violates all parliamentary practices. Most fundamentally, the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2024 is an assault on the Constitution of India itself,” the parliamentarian added.
