Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2024: Several Muslim groups present views, opposition questions arguments

New Delhi: Several Muslim organisations, including the All-India Sajjadanashin Council (AISSC) and Muslim Rashtriya Manch - started by RSS sympathisers - presented their views on Friday to the Joint Parliamentary Committee largely supporting the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2024. Opposition members questioned the arguments of these organisations in support of the draft legislation. Most of the Opposition members have been continuously registering their protest over several clauses in the bill, including making the district collector as the arbiter to decide whether a property belongs to Waqf or government, inclusion of non-Muslims in Waqf councils and deletion of Waqf by user provision of the law. On Friday, all those who appeared before the JPC broadly supported the draft legislation.

The AISSC, helmed by the patron of Ajmer Sharif Dargah, demanded establishment of a separate dargah on the lines of the demand made for Aghakhani and Bohra waqfs under the bill.Similarly, Muslim Rashtriya Manch representatives also comprised three fakirs who demanded that a separate Waqf board be formed for the Sufishah Malang community that largely comprises fakirs, which is an Indian sect of Islam and does not trace its origins to any foreign land. Some Opposition members also wondered whether the Sufi Shah Malang sect comprising fakirs formed part of the Muslim community.