Waqf Board Amendment Bill is the talk of the town. As per the news media reports, the Central government is likely to bring the bill to amend the Waqf Act and limit the powers of the Waqf board on property claims. The bill also proposes to make verification mandatory for claims on assets/properties by the waqf board.
The Brief History of Waqf Board
In 1954, The Indian Government led by Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru passed the Waqf Act. Later in 1995, the Act was amended to allow the formation of waqf boards in states and Union Territories. The Act was meant to regulate Auqaf ( Assets donated and notified as Waqf).
The Unrestricted Powers of Waqf Board
The Waqf Act has given unrestricted and uncontrolled powers to waqf boards. The board has the power to decide whether a particular property is a waqf property or not. Section 40 of the Waqf Act gives power to the Waqf boards to declare any property as Waqf property.
Around 8.7 lakh properties spanning 9.4 lakh acres are under the control of waqf boards in India. With these limitless powers, Waqf Boards have become 3rd biggest land owners in India after the Indian Armed Forces and Indian Railways.
The Possible Amendments to the Waqf Act, As Per Media Reports
- The Waqf Board claims on Properties will be subject to mandatory verification.
- The mandatory verification will apply to properties on which claims and counter-claims have been made by the Waqf Board and individual owners. Currently, the waqf boards have the power to tag any property as its asset.
Waqf Act: The Discriminatory Act of Secular India
The secular nation has an act based on religious lines for the religious properties of one community while no such law exists for other communities/Religions is discriminatory in itself.
The Government of India should abolish the Waqf Act rather than bring new amendments to the law and end discrimination based on religious grounds.
Since India is a secular country, All the Acts/Laws that are based on religious grounds should be completely abolished including the Waqf Act as well to end discrimination based on religion.
Conclusion
If the bill happens to be true then the Waqf board amendment bill should be applauded. At least the government is bringing some amendments which will limit the unrestricted and uncontrolled powers of waqf boards.
However, the Waqf board should be abolished completely and all such laws should be abolished which are based on religious grounds and are discriminatory. Laws should be for all citizens not for individual communities/religions.