Demonstration against Waqf Amendment Bill at Jantar Mantar: Owaisi said- Tomorrow a mosque was questioned, it will not remain till the investigation is completed.

The Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) demonstrated at Jantar Mantar on Monday against the Waqf Amendment Bill. Apart from AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi, hundreds of people participated in it.

Owaisi said- We oppose this bill. The bill provides that tomorrow someone says that it is not a mosque and if the collector seated the investigation, the mosque will not be our property till the investigation is completed.

The Waqf Bill can be brought in the current budget session. This session will run till 4 April. The aim of Waqf (Amendment) Bill 2024 is to solve these challenges by bringing improvements in legal systems to withdraw digitization, better transparency and illegal occupied assets.

Muslim Personal Law Board said- our words were ignored Muslim Personal Law Board spokesman Syed Qasim Rasool Ilyas said that about 5 crore Muslims gave their opinion through e-mail to the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC), but everything was ignored.

He reiterated that if this bill was passed, a nationwide movement will be started. BJP allies like Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and Janata Dal (U) have not been invited in the dharna.

The Personal Law Board was earlier to protest on 13 March. On that day, due to the possible holiday of Parliament, many MPs expressed disharmony over their presence, after which he changed the program.

Jagdambika Pal said- This challenge the right of Parliament JPC Chairman and BJP MP Jagdambika Pal said that if they are going to protest against the Waqf amendment, then they are trying to challenge hatred among the people of the country and the right to enact the law of Parliament. They are trying to confuse people and create differences. This step taken by him is not democratic.

What is Waqf Board and what is its job To oversee the land or property found in Waqf, an institution was legally called, called Waqf Board. When the country was divided in 1947, a large number of Muslims left the country and went to Pakistan. At the same time, many Hindu people came to India from Pakistan. In 1954, Parliament enacted a law in the name of Waqf Act 1954.

In this way, the ownership of the land and assets of the people going to Pakistan was given to the Waqf Board through this law. In 1955, one year after the implementation of the law, it was said to change this law and create Waqf Board in every state.

At present, there are about 32 Waqf boards from different states in the country, which registration, care and management of Waqf properties. Many states including Bihar have separate Waqf boards for Shia and Sunni Muslims.

The work of Waqf Board is to keep a full account of how much the total income of Waqf is and who was benefited by its money. They have the legal right to take any land or property and transfer in the name of others. The board can also issue a legal notice against a person. Power Waqf Board has more than a trust.

How much property does Waqf Board have Different claims are made in different media reports regarding the property of all 32 Waqf Board of the country. However, in 2022, the Government of India said that there are more than 7.8 lakh waqf immovable properties in the country. Most of these Uttar Pradesh Waqf has more than two lakh immovable properties.

Virag says that after 2009, Waqf’s properties have increased double. The Ministry of Minority Welfare gave information in the Lok Sabha in December 2022, according to which the Waqf Board has 8,65,644 immovable properties. The estimated price of about 9.4 lakh acres of Waqf lands is 1.2 lakh crores.

Why is Modi government changing the law of Waqf Board Supreme Court lawyer Virag Gupta says that the Modi government wants to make about 40 changes in the Waqf Board Act. The government wants to change this law for these 5 reasons…

1. Entry of non-Muslims in Waqf Board: The Waqf Board will now have two members non-Muslim. Not only this, the CEOs of the board can also be non -Muslim.

2. To increase participation of women and other Muslim community: Participation of women in Waqf will be increased by changing the law. It is proposed to include two women in the Central Waqf Parishad by changing section-9 and 14. Apart from this, there is also talk of setting up a separate Waqf board for Bohra and Agakhani Muslims in the new bill.

Muslims of the Bohra community are usually associated with business. Whereas Agakhani is Ismaili Muslims, who neither keep Rosa nor Haj.

3. Increase the control of the government on the board: The Government of India will change the control of the property of the Waqf Board by changing the law. The involvement of non-Muslim experts in the management of Waqf Board and an audit of Waqf with government officials will be transparent accounting for Waqf’s money and property. The central government will now be able to audit Waqf’s property through CAG.

4. Registration in District Magistrate’s office: For legal change, the government has cited the recommendations of the Joint Committee of Parliament headed by Justice Sachar Commission and K. Rahman Khan.

According to this, the state and central government cannot interfere in the Waqf properties, but after the change in the law, the Waqf Board will have to register its assets in the District Magistrate’s office, so that the ownership of the property can be investigated.

On passing the new bill, the District Magistrates will be able to investigate these properties and its revenue. The government believes that the transparency will bring transparency by registering the Waqf land in the revenue department of the district headquarters and making a record in the computer.

5. You will get a chance to go to court for justice: According to the new bill of the Modi government, the Waqf Tribunal will now have 2 members. The tribunal’s decision can be challenged in the High Court within 90 days.

The biggest challenge right now is that if Waqf describes a land as his own, then it is the responsibility of the other party claiming that land that he should prove that this land belongs to him.

Meaning the Burdane of proof is on the person claiming. The government is also solving this problem in the new bill.