Against the backdrop of the passage of Waqf Amendment Bill 2025 by the Narendra Modi dispensation, I believe we need to set certain records straight.
In contrast to NDA regime claims, they aim for neither transparency nor efficiency. Recent ‘amendments,’ for instance, change Waqf Boards from being elected bodies to nominated ones—which is not at all a transparent exercise.
A nominated Waqf Board amounts to a mere government-controlled body. This will definitely be a backdoor entry for the Government to interfere in Muslim endowments, which is against the letter and spirit of waqf practice.
The Waqf Amendment Act of 2013 had proposed leasing Waqf land for development for up to 30 years in a transparent process, with the leasing process requiring approval from the State Government. However, there is no mention of such safeguards in the Waqf Amendment Act 2025. There is every possibility of NDA-backed land mafia grabbing waqf land upon implementation of this Act.
Even prior to this Act, Waqf assets have been encroached upon, demolished, or seized in states like Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Delhi, etc., by bigoted governments and vested interests. Many such cases have been challenged in courts, with the space provided by laws thus far. The recent Waqf Amendment Act introduces provisions of limitation and enables the Government to casually grab thousands of acres of waqf land. Waqf land belongs to individual waqifs, and the Waqf Amendment 2025 violates the fundamental human right to one’s property.
Take, for instance, the much-publicized case of Delhi Waqf Board’s 123 properties. These properties are nothing but burial grounds, places of worship, etc., which could not serve purposes other than their religious intentions. Now the Government unjustly puts its hands on these by means of the denotification process.
The Indian Constitution, thus far, protects democratic and civil rights; Muslims are to utilize the space it provides to the fullest. As known to all, legal recourse has been taken up in the form of a challenge filed in the Supreme Court of India. Muslim litigants are working to get justice there.
The entire purpose of the Waqf Amendment Acts of 1995 and 2013 was to remove encroachment upon Waqf properties through strict provisions. The current NDA regime has done nothing to dislodge such encroachments over the past 10 years. Now they have brought up these ‘amendments’ to further harm the cause of Waqf.
The proposed composition pattern of Waqf Boards in the new Act is totally unreasonable, subjected to opaque processes, and ensures Government control, ending any degree of autonomy. By removing the power of Tribunals and survey commissions, the Act puts an end to the process of legal survey and survey of waqf land. Converting this to a bureaucratic exercise ensures a major looming injustice in the offing.
The Waqf Amendment Act 2025 contradicts constitutional guarantees stated in Articles 14, 19, 25, 28, and 29. It is intended to interfere in religious systems in order that conflicts develop and constitutional rights are deprived for Muslims.
The new law will affect waqifs and will give rise to a plethora of litigations. It is set to further damage all waqf institutions. The current regime sees it as an objective to create problems for Muslims and religious conflicts. By increasing Government oversight, the Muslim community is rendered unable to manage and develop waqf properties. The Muslim community is set to lose control over their religious and charitable institutions, contrary to the regime’s tall claims of enhancing transparency and accountability in Waqf management.
With no mention of any day-to-day operations of Waqf institutions—particularly services like education, healthcare, and support for the poor—the destiny of such tasks remains unclear. Despite this undue interference in the internal matters of the Muslim community, long-standing concerns regarding mismanagement or inefficiency in Waqf administration find no relief in this Act. Nothing positive is to be expected from a measure intended only to be anti-Muslim. The prospects of financial sustainability of waqf institutions remain hazy.
The singular contribution of this Act would be that the vast majority of the Muslim community in India has risen up against it. Matters are poised toward further conflicts between the Muslim community and the regime, increasing authoritarian control over the Muslim community and amplifying communal tensions.
(K. Rahman Khan, former Union Minister and Deputy Chairperson of Rajya Sabha, heads Al-Ameen Institutions and KKCET in Karnataka. A senior Congress leader, he previously chaired Karnataka’s State Minorities Commission and publishes the Urdu daily Salar. His career spans politics, education, and media with a focus on minority rights and community development.)
Disclaimer: This article is based on a conversation with the author. The views expressed reflect those shared directly by the author during our discussion.
