With 288 votes, Waqf Bill passed in Lok Sabha

The Lok Sabha on Wednesday passed the 2024 Waqf Amendment Bill, which seeks to curb the authority of waqf boards and allow greater government control over them.

The bill was adopted after a 12-hour debate, with 288 votes in favour and 232 against it, reported The Times of India. The bill needs to be cleared by the Rajya Sabha before it receives the president’s assent.

The Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance has 293 MPs in the Lok Sabha. After winning 240 seats in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections and losing the majority in the Lower House, the BJP has had to rely on its alliance partners Janata Dal (United) and Telugu Desam Party to pass bills.

The Janata Dal (United) supported the waqf bill, saying that it was not against Muslims. The party had earlier said that the bill aimed to ensure transparency in the operation of the waqf boards and was not an attempt to interfere with mosques. However, it urged the Union government not to implement the bill with retrospective effect.

On March 23, several Muslim organisations in Bihar boycotted an Iftar dinner organised by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar at his home in Patna on Sunday, citing the Janata Dal (United)’s support for the bill.

The Telugu Desam Party had also announced its support for the bill.

A waqf is a property dedicated to a religious, educational or charitable cause under Islamic law. In India, waqfs are governed under the 1995 Waqf Act. Each state has a waqf board led by a legal entity that is vested with the power to acquire, hold and transfer property. The Act was last amended in 2013.

The 2024 bill proposes to amend 44 sections of the Waqf Act. The amendments propose to allow waqf boards to be controlled by the government to a greater degree, allow non-Muslims to be members of the boards, restrict the donation of properties and change how waqf tribunals function.

Also read: With the Waqf Bill, the state brings a legal bulldozer to minority rights

After the bill was tabled in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said the legislation does not allow government interference in Muslim religious affairs, reported The Indian Express.

“We are not scaring the Muslims, you are scaring the Muslims,” he said. “I am saying that no citizen of this country, irrespective of religion, will be harmed.”

Shah also accused the Opposition parties of spreading “misconceptions” and “rumours” for their vote bank politics.

In a social media post, Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi called the bill an “attack on the Constitution by the RSS [Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh], BJP and their allies”.

The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh is the parent organisation of the BJP.

The bill is a “weapon aimed at marginalising Muslims and usurping their personal laws and property rights”, said Gandhi, adding that the legislation “sets a precedent to target other communities in the future”.

“The Congress party strongly opposes this legislation as it attacks the very idea of India and violates Article 25, the Right to Freedom of Religion,” said the leader of Opposition.

During the discussion on it, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav claimed that the Union government wanted to introduce the bill to protect its “vote bank” and to divide society. “Did the decisions taken by the government before this bring about a big change in the country and the state?” he asked.

Yadav added: “The Waqf Bill does not signify any hope. Rather, it is part of a well thought out strategy.”

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