The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has become the third opposition party after the Congress and Asaduddin Owaisi’s AIMIM to challenge the Waqf Amendment Bill in the Supreme Court as the controversial legislation awaits the President’s assent after clearing both Houses of the Parliament.
The proposed legislation that seeks to amend the 1995 law governing Waqf properties has caused concern among the Opposition parties who claim that the proposed law is discriminatory and targets Muslims.
The amendment will reduce the religious and cultural autonomy of Muslims, said AAP MLA Amanatullah Khan in his plea, contending that the government’s intervention undermines the rights of minorities to manage their religious and charitable institutions.
The government, however, has maintained that the law will benefit Muslim women and ensure transparency in managing Waqf properties.
Challenging the constitutional validity of the Waqf Amendment Bill, Mr Khan said the legislation violates multiple fundamental rights of citizens, including freedom of equality, managing religious affairs, and the rights of minorities.
The bill curtails the religious and cultural autonomy of Muslims, enables arbitrary executive interference, and undermines the rights of minorities to manage their religious and charitable institutions, according to his plea.
His petition follows similar challenges by two opposition MPs, Congress’s Mohammad Jawed and Asaduddin Owaisi.
Mr Jawed, who was part of the joint parliamentary committee on the Waqf bill, said the law discriminates against Muslims by imposing restrictions that are not present in the governance of other religious institutions.
Among the major concerns against the law is a provision for including non-Muslim members in Waqf councils and state boards. This isn’t the case with the Hindu Endowment Board or the Jain Endowment Board and is a grave violation of the Constitution, argued Mr Owaisi.
The BJP is “using its majority in parliament not to reform, but to destroy, to take away all the rights Muslims have; you are by enacting a law waging a war on Muslims,” Mr Owaisi said while speaking yesterday.
Defending the bill, BJP MP Ravi Shankar Prasad told NDTV it would bring transparency by making Waqf boards accountable. Seeking to allay fears that the law would take away Waqf properties, he insisted that no mosque or graveyard is going to be touched.
The Lok Sabha cleared the Waqf bill early Thursday by 288 votes to 232 after a heated face-off between the opposition and treasury benches, followed by the Rajya Sabha with 128 votes in favour and 95 against.
The bill’s passage sparked massive protests in various cities like Kolkata, Chennai, and Ahmedabad after Friday’s weekly prayers.
