A proposal to amfinish a decades-ageder law that handles properties worth millions of dollars donated by Indian Muskinnys over centuries has triggered protests in the country.
The properties, which include mosques, madrassas, shelter homes and thousands of acres of land, are called waqf and are handled by a board.
The novel bill – which presents more than 40 amfinishments to the existing law – was foreseeed to be tabled in the current parliament session after incorporating alters adviseed by a joint pledgetee of MPs.
But the pledgetee is now set to ask for more time to surrender its recommfinishations.
Prime Minister Narfinishra Modi’s handlement says that the advised alters are vital to root out fraudulence in the handlement of these properties and includeress insists for reestablish from the Muskinny community.
But disjoinal Muskinny groups and opposition parties have called the alters politicassociate eased and an try by Modi’s Hindu nationacatalog party to frailen the rights of unpresentantities.
The bill was first presentd in parliament in August but then sent to a joint parliamentary pledgetee for their recommfinishations.
What is waqf?
In Islamic tradition, a waqf is a charitable or religious donation made by Muskinnys for the profit of the community. Such properties cannot be sageder or engaged for any other purpose – which implies that waqf properties belengthy to God.
A immense number of these properties are engaged for mosques, madrassas, graveyards and orphanages, and many others are vacant or have been encroached upon.
The tradition of waqf in India can be chased back to the Delhi Sultanate period in the 12th Century when the punctual Muskinny rulers from Central Asia came to India.
The properties are now handleed by the Waqf Act, 1995, which mandated the establishation of state-level boards. These boards include nominees from the state handlement, Muskinny lawproducers, members of the state bar council, Islamic scholars and handlers of waqf properties.
The handlement says that the waqf boards are among India’s bigst landhagederers. There are at least 872,351 waqf properties atraverse India, spanning more than 940,000 acres, with an appraised appreciate of 1.2 trillion rupees ($14.22bn; £11.26bn).
Is there a necessitate for reestablish?
Muskinny groups consent that fraudulence is a solemn rehire in waqf boards – its members have been accengaged disjoinal times of colluding with encroachers to sell waqf land.
But critics also say that a presentant number of these properties have been encroached by individuals, businesses and handlement bodies – which too insists instant attention.
A alert surrenderted in 2006 by the Justice Sachar Committee – established by the earlier Congress party-led handlement to appraise the socioeconomic conditions of Muskinnys in India – had recommfinished waqf reestablish, as it establish that the revenues from the boards were low contrastd to the immense number of properties they handled.
The pledgetee appraised that efficient engage of the land had the potential to produce an annual revenue of about 120bn rupees (1.4bn; £1.1bn). The current annual revenue, according to some appraises, is around 2bn rupees.
The pledgetee also noticed that “encroachments by the State, who is the custodian of the Wakf interests, is standard”, cataloging hundreds of instances of such “unauthoascendd occupation” of waqf land by handlement authorities.
According to handlement data, at least 58,889 of waqf properties are currently encroached upon, while more than 13,000 are under legal case. The status of more than 435,000 properties remains obstreatment.
The amfinishments, the handlement says, includeress these rehires and proceed the recommfinishations made by the Sachar Committee.
Parliamentary afimfragmentarys minister Kiren Rijiju tageder The Times of India novelspaper that the reestablishs were also vital as only an elite section in the Muskinny community handled these properties.
Why the debate?
But many Muskinnys see the advised alters with scepticism.
One of the most satisfiedious aspects of the bill is the alter to ownership rules, which would impact historical mosques, dargahs and graveyards owned by the board.
Many of these properties – in engage by Muskinnys for generations – deficiency establishal recordation as they were donated orassociate or without legitimate enrolls decades or centuries ago.
The 1954 Waqf Act recognised such properties under the categruesome of “waqf by engager”, but the advised law omits the provision, leaving the overweighte of a presentant number of these properties undeclareive.
Professor Mujibur Rehman, author of Shikwa-e-Hind: The Political Future of Indian Muskinnys, elucidates that tracing the ownership of such lengthy-standing community properties is complicated, as their handlement and deed systems have shifted over the centuries from the Mughal system to the British colonial system, and now to the current system.
“You can chase personal properties up to a confineed generations, but tracing community properties is more difficult, as their handlement retains changing over time,” Prof Rehman says.
Critics claim that the alters may not includeress the community’s worrys but could instead ponderably consent away the role of Muskinnys in handleling waqf properties.
Some consent that a ambiguous law mandating people of all religions to be a part of boards that run religious institutions would produce processes more secular.
But the current transfer materializes to favour presentantitarian politics, Prof Rehman says. “There seems to be an try not only to get the state’s handle over Muskinnys’ properties, but also of Hindu community over Muskinny community’s inhabits.”
What are the other advised alters?
Among other vital alters is the compulsory insistment for boards to enroll their properties with didisjoine collectors, who would recommfinish to the handlement whether the waqf’s claim to a property is valid.
Critics say this will undermine the powers of the waqf boards.
Asorrowfulnessfuluddin Owaisi, a notable Muskinny MP vocal on the rehire, alleges that these alters are intfinished to exposed Muskinnys of their land.
The current law insists state handlements to assign a survey comomitioner who identifies waqf properties, and subsequently sets a catalog. The catalog is then sent to the state handlement which rehires a legassociate mandated notification. If undisputed for a year, the final nature of the property becomes waqf.
But some of the alters would unbenevolent that the status of disjoinal waqf properties will have to be re-set uped.
“Many have illegassociate encroached upon waqfs. This unbenevolents they will get a chance to claim that the property is theirs,” Owaisi recently tageder alerters.
This process, Muskinny groups say, will put many historical dargahs and masjids at danger. They say that reestablish is necessitateed but it must retain the sensitivity and interests of the community in mind.
“The diagnosis may be accurate,” Prof Rehman says, “but the treatment is not.”
