Waqf Bill: Muslim leaders submit memorandum against it

A delegation of Muslim leaders associated with the Congress met party MP Imran Masood, who is a member of the Joint Parliamentary Committee on the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, in Ajmer on Sunday, 22 September, and submitted a memorandum against the provisions of the bill.

The bill was introduced in the Lok Sabha on 8 August and referred to a joint parliamentary panel after a heated debate. The 31-member panel will submit its report by the next session of Parliament.

While the government has asserted that the proposed law did not intend to interfere with the functioning of mosques, the opposition called it targeting of Muslims and an attack on the Constitution.

The delegation of Muslim leaders met Masood, who was on a visit to Ajmer, and said the members of the community are opposed to the amendments because waqf is a religious matter of the Muslims.

‘We will not allow the government to interfere in our religious matters. The Constitution allows us to function according to our religion. The truth is that the government's intentions are not right,’ stated the memorandum addressed to the JPC's head Jagdambika Pal.

‘Waqf is a completely religious matter and interference in it will not be right,’ it said. The delegation included Ghulam Mustafa Chishti, Muzaffar Bharti, Rab Nawaz Jafri, Manzoor Ali, Ashraf Buland Khan, Ajmat Khan and Wahid Mohammad.