New Waqf Law To Ensure Accountability, Not Touch Mosques, Says BJP's Ravi Shankar Prasad

The Waqf (Amendment) Bill, which has been approved by both the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha following intense and lengthy debates, will bring benefits to Muslim women and promote transparency, according to BJP MP Ravi Shankar Prasad.

he former law minister stressed that no mosque, place of worship, or 'kabrastan' (graveyard) would be affected, reported NDTV.

Photo Credit: Sansad TV via PTI Photo

"The issue is very simple and straight. Whether the intention of the 'Waqif' who created the Waqf for noble purposes is being executed properly by the 'Muttawali', who is the manager, or not. A Waqf is not a religious body at all. It is a legal or a statutory body... The 'Muttawali' is just a superintendent or a manager. He does not have any rights over the property, because once a Waqf has been created, the property vests in Allah, peace be on him (sic)," Prasad explained, noting that the Bill would empower Muslim women and support widows and marginalised members of the community.

The senior BJP figure highlighted that in areas near the Dak Bungalow locality in Patna-his home city-there is a significant amount of Waqf land, yet luxury hotels and showrooms have sprung up there.

He also pointed out that India has more Waqf properties than anywhere else in the world and questioned how many hospitals, universities, or training centres have been established on them.

"Is the manager using the property the way the person who dedicated it intended or is he stuffing his pockets? That is the question. And a drama is being created over this... Let me tell you, people from my state and the entire country are going to appreciate (this Bill). People were dismayed to learn that so much property is being misused," he said.

Transparency

Prasad emphasised that the Bill would enhance transparency by holding Waqf boards accountable.

"The entire thing is being made accountable, everything will be available online, digitisation will happen, you can see which property is where, who is the Muttawali, what use is the particular property being put to in terms of the intention of the 'Waqif (the person dedicating the property). So, all these things are very transparent now," he said.

Backlash expected?

When asked whether the government anticipates a backlash from the Muslim community and how the Bill's passage might affect Nitish Kumar, who has support among Muslims, ahead of the Bihar Assembly elections later this year, Prasad remarked that questions about Kumar have persisted since his alliance with the BJP began in 1996.

Referencing the protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, the BJP leader noted that not a single Muslim has lost citizenship.

"But the larger issue is we were two in 1984, just two (the BJP had two seats) in the 1984 Lok Sabha. Where are we today? Ruling the country, in more than 21 states of the country. Nitish Kumar ji, our very proud colleague and friend, has been a chief minister for 19 years," he said.

The former law minister also argued that India's political landscape has experienced a 'tectonic metamorphosis'.

"...whereas the nature of the argument is the same. Secular, communal, appeasement. The world has changed. India has changed. And I would say the young people of the minority community and the thinking community have also changed... And some people are trying to frustrate that change by the same logic of the 1990s and 1980s," he concluded.