Muslim Personal Law Board will not make Waqf Act an election issue but will take a call to intensify protests

The All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) has been organising demonstrations to protest against the Waqf Amendment Act, 2025 in several parts of the country, including in Hyderabad, for several weeks. The Board has sought to include women, and people belonging to other faiths in the protests, even as its president Maulana Khalid Saifullah Rahmani, in an exclusive interview with Syed Mohammed, asserts that their struggle is not against Hindus, but against the government which is trying to wrest lands and properties from the control of Muslims. Edited excerpts from an interview:
Q: What are your key contentions against the Waqf Amendment Act, 2025?
It is our belief that the law was brought to grab the properties of Muslims. The law makes waqf properties vulnerable. The concept of waqf by user —meaning properties that have been historically used as mosques, dargahs, graveyards or madrasas — that are being used for a specific purpose, even if no documents are available, they will be considered waqf. Religious structures often predate documentation. For example, Delhi's Jama Masjid and Hyderabad's Mecca Masjid were built centuries ago. If masjid committees are now expected to produce ownership documents, it sets an impossible standard. As regards claims by the government, we believe they have a habit of lying. They can claim any land parcel. Most waqf cases are against the government. So, all waqf cases that are against the government will become disputed. Similarly, disputes were created over other Muslim places of worship, and to create them one does not need evidence.
Second, the amendment says that any waqf property under the custody of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) will no longer be considered waqf. Many historic mosques that serve both religious and public, as sites of tourism, interests may now function only at the government's discretion, depending on whether and at what frequency they permit namaz (prayers). Thirdly, the law seeks to dilute protection under the law of limitation. Thousands of acres will stand risk of exclusion from waqf (due to adverse possession). Many land parcels are in unauthorised possession of the government, of Hindus and even Muslims.
Given the BJP's usual firmness in passing laws, how do you plan to engage the public? Demonstrations such as 'lights off' and 'human chain' were largely symbolic. Will future protests take a different form?
It's true that the BJP rarely backtracks. It believes in dictatorship. It does not listen to the public. As seen with the farm laws, these were withdrawn after several farmers died. The AIMPLB's protests will be within the bounds of law. They will be peaceful. Our fight is not against our Hindu brothers but against this government. If the government remains indifferent, our working committee will decide the next course. Whether it is courting arrest, a jail bharo movement, or peaceful roadblocks. We're encouraged by the support of many Hindu brothers, and civil rights groups who stand with us.
Q: The BJP claims this law will ensure transparency and empower Muslim women. How do you respond to these claims?
We say that let there be a public debate. Let the Prime Minister or Home Minister attend. We'll welcome them. If that's not possible, send the Law or Minority Affairs Minister to sit with an AIMPLB delegation. Let them explain how this law benefits Muslims, women, or Pasmandas. They won't be able to. They claim Pasmandas are being denied rights. Are they not praying in masjids, which are waqf? In Islam, all Muslims are equal.
Q: But caste-based discrimination among Muslims, as is the case with Pasmandas, has been studied and documented. Those who are victims of discrimination know what they've been through.
Yes, there are two aspects — economic and social. Economically, Muslims are among the most backward, as various government-appointed commissions have found. Socially, some refer to Ashraf, Ajlaf, and Arzal. But these words are not found in any Islamic texts on jurisprudence. In Islam, a Syed girl can marry a non-Syed man, and no aalim will declare the nikah invalid. If the imam of a masjid is an Ansari, whom some may look down upon, but we do not, a Syed will still pray behind him. It is possible that these negative practices have entered the Muslim community on account of shared experiences, or influences from others. But Islam rejects caste. We look at it as a social evil.
Q: The government has contended in courts of law, including in the case of waqf, that of 'essential religious' practice.
The government is presenting this in a wrong manner. Fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence) should not be interpreted by the government. The opinion of those who are experts of fiqh should be taken. Essential religious practice encompasses all that is proved by Quran and hadith (tradition of Prophet Muhammad).
What ramification will Act have, especially when it comes to States that are soon going for elections as is the case with Bihar?
AIMPLB does not have anything to do with politics. We neither support, or oppose any party. We will not make this an election issue.. As regards one party supporting (the then Bill), or another opposing it, it is unfortunate many political leaders do not have a conscience.
The AIMPLB has stressed on unity among faiths as regards demonstrations, and called upon varied groups to fight against the Act.
If you see, a Jain temple was demolished recently in Mumbai. Secondly Buddhists in Bodh Gaya have been demonstrating. They want members of their own faiths in the management. The problem will exacerbate. It began with minorities, including Jains, Buddhists, and Sikhs. In fact, I am certain that it will eventually affect Hindus as well.

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Learn with AIFact CheckingText to SpeechAI Summary

Related Articles

Indian Express

39 minutes ago

• Indian Express

Mumbai Confidential: Tantra in Politics

Tantra In Politics In Maharashtra's political corridors, whispers of occult rituals have been associated with a regional powerhouse. The speculation turned abuzz when several of its leaders recently visited the famed Kamakhya temple in Assam, a known seat of Tantric power. A new name has now entered this domain — a cabinet heavyweight from the Konkan belt, embroiled in a bitter tussle over the plum post of guardian minister. A video clip, said to be from last year but recently gone public, appears to show the minister in ritual regalia seated beside an Aghori sadhu clad in black, in what seems like a ritualistic invocation. Political opponents say it shows how tantra is thriving in the state's polity. Firebrand Concern Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, as part of his outreach to the Muslim community after the split in the NCP, had famously promised that he would not spare anyone who intimidated Muslims in the state. Pawar, however, seems to be struggling to rein in a young firebrand from his own stable. The three-time MLA from a prominent western Maharashtra city and the son-in-law of a sitting BJP legislator has been making speeches laced with communal rhetoric. His most recent demand was that Muslim employees at a well known temple trust be removed. With back-to-back electoral victories and an eye on further consolidation, the young leader is believed to be tapping into rising polarisation to shore up his personal clout. Power Games An NCP minister was livid when he realised that a newly appointed chief officer of a prime municipal council in his constituency had taken charge without the consent of state's Deputy Chief Minister and Urban Development Department Minister Eknath Shinde. The appointment was through an officer in Shinde's office without informing the former CM. The NCP minister complained to Shinde on the cabinet day after the appointment was cancelled. Now the officer who went ahead without informing Shinde and is holding double charge at present is under radar.

Indian Express

39 minutes ago

• Indian Express

Jaikrishn trapped as part of a political conspiracy: BAP

Over a month and a half after Bharat Adivasi Party (BAP) MLA Jaikrishn Patel was caught allegedly taking a Rs 20 lakh bribe, the party said Sunday that it has concluded in its internal investigation that he was trapped as part of a 'political conspiracy'. Party's national president Mohan Lal Roat told The Indian Express that there are plenty of things pointing towards a political conspiracy. 'There are discrepancies in the press conference by the Anti-Corruption Bureau (following Patel's arrest) and the FIR lodged in the case. It is said there were about 48 calls between the two (MLA Patel and complainant Ravindra Kumar). But our MLA replied 1-2 times but most of the calls were by him (Kumar).' Next, Roat questioned the idea of money being given in lieu of 'withdrawing' three Assembly questions when two of these were already answered last year and were in the public domain. 'What was the idea behind taking money to 'withdraw' the questions put up in July last year, when the government had clearly and promptly answered those questions.' Party MP Rajkumar Roat too has questioned the circumstances, saying, 'Since 1952, there must have been about 3,000 MLAs in Rajasthan; excluding those who repeated, there must have been 2,000 to 2,500 MLAs so far in the state. But this was the first time an MLA was trapped. From what our team has investigated, he was trapped as part of a conspiracy.' 'The person on the other end called 40-42 times. Why would the person, who was the MLA candidate for the now ruling party, get scared and give a bribe to the MLA of a regional party? This was planning and this was a conspiracy,' the MP said, referring to complainant Ravindra Kumar's father Ramniwas Meena. While Ravindra Kumar had contested 2023 Assembly elections from Karauli as a BSP candidate and stood third – behind BJP and Congress candidates – his father, Ramniwas Meena and co-owner of the mines, had contested the 2023 election from Todabhim on a BJP ticket but lost to Congress's Ghanshyam Mahar. On May 4, first-time MLA Patel, and a middleman Vijay Patel were arrested by the ACB for allegedly accepting a Rs 20-lakh bribe – the second instalment of a Rs 2.5 crore bribe – in lieu of withdrawing Assembly questions on mining. The ACB had said this was the first instance of it arresting an MLA in the state, and the mines in question are in Todabhim, about 600 kilometres away from the MLA's constituency in Banswara. Party chief Roat said that things would be clearer once they get to meet the MLA. 'We haven't been able to meet the MLA. They are not giving us time to meet, (but once this happens) this will help us clear more things. Moreover, the BJP candidate too had said that he won't let him (Patel) stay around for more than six months,' he said, referring to BJP leader Mahendrajeet Singh Malviya. 'So, due to all of this, we have concluded that he was trapped as part of a conspiracy,' the party chief said. Malviya was elected from Bagidora Assembly in 2023 on a Congress ticket but had left the party to join the BJP last year. He had then unsuccessfully contested the Banswara Lok Sabha (which includes Bagidora Assembly) against BAP's Rajkumar Roat. In the Bagidora bypoll too, BAP's Jaikrishn had defeated BJP's Subhash Tamboliya by a convincing margin of over 51,000 votes. The party's five-member team which investigated the case included party's three MLAs Umesh Meena (Aaspur), Thavar Chand (Dhariyawad), Anil Kumar Katara (Chorasi), party's national spokesperson Jitendra Meena, and party leader Kanti Bhai. MP Roat also said that Patel was 'trapped by people in power as part of a conspiracy. And the people have understood, because the Panchayat Samiti seat which the BJP had won earlier with 600 votes, lost in the by-election. The people have given a befitting reply.' 'We know that if he has made a mistake then his membership might be terminated. But we will have more clarity only once we meet him, and what is said in the chargesheet etc,' party's national president Mohan Lal Roat said.

Deccan Herald

43 minutes ago

• Deccan Herald

Shettar demands CM, DCM's resignation

Corruption in the state has crossed all limits. No work is done in government offices without paying bribe. Since Congress MLAs themselves have exposed the corruption in the Housing Corporation, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar should take moral responsibility and resign, demanded Belagavi MP Jagadish to reporters in the town on Sunday, he pointed out that Congress MLA B R Patil, who comes from a socialist background, has publicly expressed his dissatisfaction by stating that work gets done at the Gram Panchayat president's level, but not at the MLA's level. Revenue Minister Krishna Byre Gowda has exposed the bribery taking place in the Bengaluru tahsildar's office. 'What more proof is needed to show that the government is mired in corruption?' he further stated that during the BJP's tenure, they had alleged that it was a 40% government. Even though an inquiry commission was formed, nothing was proven. Now, the statements made by Minister Krishna Byre Gowda and MLAs B R Patil and Basavaraj Rayaraddi proved the corruption within the Congress government,' Shettar criticised the Congress leaders for engaging in appeasement politics by favouring Muslims for vote bank. The Congress is indulging in appeasement politics by reserving contracts and housing schemes specifically for Muslims, the MP is essential to provide 2A reservation to communities like the Panchamasali Lingayats and other economically backward sections. The government should consider increasing the reservation quota by bringing amendments on the model of Tamil Nadu, he is essential to provide 2A reservation