Bhubaneswar: Introducing the Waqf Amendment Bill, Union Minority Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju said the bill will ensure that no one secretly creates waqf properties under the cover of darkness. The minister added that the amended bill will bring transparency and efficiency.

Since the functioning of waqf is marred by controversies and complaints, and as the Bill has been moved in the Lok Sabha Wednesday, and with numbers stacked in favour of NDA in the lower house, the passage of the bill looks a certainty.  

In such a backdrop, here is a comprehensive look at why the amendments were brought out in the Waqf Bill. 

COMPLAIN BOX

As per the Union Minority Ministry data, among the large number of complaints against the Waqf board lands, the ministry has analysed as many as 148 complaints received from April 2023, the findings of the ministry analysis shows majority complaints pertains to the following reasons:

• Encroachments
• Illegal sales of waqf land
• Delays in Surveys and registration
• Complaints against Waqf Boards and Mutawallis (waqf caretaker)

Moreover, the Ministry has also analysed

In addition to the above analysis, the Minority Ministry claimed that it has also analysed the complaint received on CPGRAMS (Centralized Public Grievance Redress and Monitoring System) from April, 2022 to March, 2023. The findings were listed below.

• Total complaints received – 566
• 194 complaints related to encroachment and transfer of waqf land illegally
• 93 complaints were against the Officials of Waqf Board/ Mutawallis.

WAQF REFORMS NEED OF HOUR?

The Ministry for Minorities has also reasoned the need of amending the Waqf Act 1995 that many members of Lok Sabha and  Rajya Sabha has raised the voice of reforming the waqf boards on the floor of the house for the following reasons.

• Delay in registration of Waqf Properties
• Fetching less rent than the market value by the Waqf Board
• Rampant encroachment on waqf land
• Inheritance rights of the widows
• non-completion of survey by the Survey Commissioner
• Slow progress of digitization of Waqf Property records 

Moreover, the functioning of Tribunals was scrutinized by the Ministry. It found that there are 40,951 cases lying pending in Tribunals, of which 9,942 cases filed by the Muslim community against the waqf managing institutions. 

THE BIG CONTROVERSIES

In addition to the complaints of maladministration, certain claims made by waqf board have raised eyebrows of many constitutional bodies. Here are the instances criss-crossing across the country.

Thiruchenthurai Village: In this Tamil Nadu village, a farmer Rajagopal was unable to sell his agricultural land to repay a loan because the Waqf Board has claimed his entire village, Thiruchenthurai, as its property.  

• For which, he could not obtain a no objection certificate (NOC) that led to him bearing financial and emotional distress.
• The village was historically donated as waqf by Nawab Anwardeen Khan in 1956.
• To prevent illegal sales or encroachments, the Waqf Board requested the registration department to assign a 'zero value' to Waqf properties.
• Recently, the Ministry of Minority Affairs (MoMA) stayed the request to allow property transactions.

Bengaluru Eidgah Ground Case: This instance from Karnataka has its own story

• Despite no land title transfer to any Muslim organization, as per government records, Waqf’s claims:
•  It was a Waqf property from the 1850s means that it is now forever a Waqf property.

Surat Municipal Corporation Case: This instance has come to light from Gujarat

• Gujarat Waqf Board staked claim on Surat Municipal Corporation building as waqf property
• The Waqf board claim so by citing the fact that during the Mughal era, the Surat Municipal Corporation building was a sarai and used during the Hajj travels.
• The property then belonged to British Empire during British rule.
• After Independence, the properties were then shifted to the government of India.
• As documents were not updated, SMC building then became Waqf property
• Waqf Board says, once a Waqf, always a Waqf.

Islands in Bet Dwarka: Here is another interesting case from the land of Lord Shri Krishna.

• As per well known Gujarati daily Divya Bhaskar, the Waqf Board had written an application to Gujarat High Court staking claim on the ownership of two islands in Bet Dwarka in Devbhoomi Dwarka.
• Stymied by the claim, the High Court Judge refused to hear the application
• The HC asked the Board to revise its petition.
• HC wondered how can Waqf stake a claim on land in Krishnanagri.

Shiv Shakti Society, Surat: Here is a case from the modern day. 

• There is a society called Shiv Shakti society in Surat.
• One of the plot owners registered his plot with the Gujarat Waqf Board for the purpose of offering namaz at the place.
• People started offering Namaz there.
• This instance has brought to light how an apartment in any housing society can in no time turn into a mosque without taking into account the views of other members of the society.

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