Maulana Khalid Saifullah Rehmani, the president of the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) stepped up his opposition to the proposed Waqf (Amendment) bill. In an effort to provoke Muslims, he vowed to fight its implementation “at any cost” and declared that members of the organisation are willing to give their lives for the cause. He further alleged that the government wanted to limit the board’s rights and added that it had unlawfully occupied the highest number of Waqf properties.
“It is a matter of life and death for us, and we should stop it (Waqf bill) at all costs. If needed, the Muslims of the country will fill the jails in such a way that the government will not have any place to house criminals,” he threatened while speaking at an event in Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh. “If needed, we will not hesitate to give our own lives,” he claimed in front of his audience.
“If its (waqf boards) management is done by non-Muslims, will they sympathise with your mosques and graveyards? The result will be your land will be taken away from you. This is a very dangerous law. In Tamil Nadu itself there are 4,78,000 acres of temple land. In Andhra Pradesh, there are 4,68,000 acres of temple land. Both these states have 10 lakh acres of temple land. If Muslims have six lakh acres of Waqf land in the whole country, then what is the problem,” he asked.
Additionally, the AIMPLB chief accused that the center governemnt was “pressurising” certain Waqf Board members to drop the legal battle and refrain from submitting any paperwork. “Think about it. If there is a dispute between the Waqf board and the government, will the collector give a decision against the government? The collector is from the government itself,” he claime dinf ront of the gathering.
Notably, a group headed by the AIMPLB supremo met with Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren on 9th October to allegedly discuss their objections to the bill. They claimed that the Waqf Act would permit the seizure of Waqf holding and charged that the move is in violation of the Constitution, federalism, democratic values and the pluralistic structure of the nation. According to a statement issued by the AIMPLB following the meeting, Soren would “never support the Waqf Amendment Bill 2024 if it is presented in Parliament.”
On 28th July, the central government proposed the Waqf (Amendment) Bill in Parliament. However, it was referred to a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) due to the objection from the opposition parties. Waqf boards now have the jurisdiction to declare any property “waqf property.” The law seeks to limit their authority. It also recommends including Muslim women and non-Muslims to state Waqf Boards and the Central Waqf Council.
On 22nd October, Trinamool Congress Lok Sabha MP Kalyan Banerjee reportedly attacked JPC chairman Jagdambika Pal with a glass bottle during the Joint Parliamentary Committee meeting on the Waqf (Amendment) bill. He had a heated dispute with Bharatiya Janata Party member and former Calcutta High Court Judge Abhijit Gangopadhyay and injured his thumb as well as index finger when he shattered a glass water bottle on the table out of rage. Meanwhile, Jagdambika Pal expressed, “Yesterday during the Joint Parliamentary Committee meeting, TMC MP Kalyan Banerjee broke a glass bottle and threw it with such anger and fury and the way he threw it at me, it is God’s grace that I narrowly escaped.”
“The government is having discussions on the bill so that it can benefit the Muslim community. The objective of the bill is to benefit the poor Muslims. The state wants such land to be used for the education and development of poor Muslims. We have to come to a consensus. If anybody disagrees, they must make their point. But showing such anger is not valid,” Jagdambika Pal noted.
