Indian parliament’s passes controversial Muslim endowments bill
Al Jazeera :
India’s lower house of parliament has passed a controversial bill moved by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist government to amend laws governing Muslim endowments worth more than $14bn.
The waqf bill would add non-Muslims to boards that manage the endowments and give the government a more significant role in validating their land holdings. Waqf refers to personal property – moveable or immovable – that is permanently donated by Muslims for religious or charitable purposes.
Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) argues the proposed changes to a 1995 waqf law will help fight corruption and mismanagement while promoting diversity.
But Muslims fear the move could leave waqf properties – historic mosques, shops, shrines, graveyards and thousands of acres of land – more vulnerable to confiscations, disputes and demolitions.
On Wednesday, a heated debate on the waqf bill took place in the country’s lower house of the parliament, with the Congress-led opposition calling it unconstitutional and discriminatory against Muslims.
Yet, the BJP, with the help of its allies because it lacks a majority of seats in the lower house of parliament, was able to pass the bill with 288 members voting for it and 232 against it early on Thursday.
The bill is being debated in the parliament’s upper house on Thursday. If passed, it will be sent to President Droupadi Murmu for her assent before becoming law.
One of the most controversial changes to the waqf bill is to its ownership rules, which could impact hundreds of mosques, shrines and graveyards since many such properties lack formal documentation as they were donated without legal records decades, and even centuries, ago.
Many Indian Muslims fear the Hindu nationalist government will gain far greater control over Muslim properties, particularly at a time when attacks on them have become more frequent and aggressive under Modi. Muslims are often targeted for everything from their food and clothing to interreligious marriages.
In India, waqf properties are spread across nearly one million acres (approximately 1562.5 square miles), nearly twice the size of Mauritius. They are looked after by 32 government-established waqf boards in the country’s states and federally run union territories.
The boards in every state comprise government nominees, Muslim legislators (current, or where none are available, former lawmakers), scholars, and caretakers (“mutawallis”) who oversee property administration. All must be Muslims.
During the parliamentary debate on Wednesday, Home Minister Amit Shah said non-Muslims would be included in waqf boards only for administration purposes and to help run the endowments smoothly. He added that they were not there to interfere in religious affairs.
“The [non-Muslim] members will monitor whether the administration is running as per law or not, and whether the donations are being used for what they were intended or not,” he said.