Aug 29, 2024 08:51 PM IST
If the spirit of genuine welfare and well-being as demonstrated by the Sachar committee is imbibed by JPC and enacted into the draft with genuine consultation and building of trust with the community, the Bill has the potential to become a milestone law.
The Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2024, was tabled in Parliament in the last session and is now being examined by a joint parliamentary committee (JPC). Under Islamic law, waqf is a religious charity. A person can dedicate their movable or immovable property for religious or charitable purposes for Muslims. The person dedicating her property to waqf irrevocably loses ownership over it as it now gets transferred to Allah. The property must then be used for community purposes such as mosques, madrasas, burial grounds, hospitals, and other collective purposes. It is logical that a transparent and efficient system for managing these properties is required. The Waqf Act, 1995 aimed to provide a framework for the administration of these properties. Various waqf boards, which operate independently of each other under respective state governments, manage nearly 870,000 properties across India, with a collective estimated value of ₹1.5 lakh crore. Disputes arise regularly and are referred to quasi-judicial waqf tribunals.
Unfortunately, over the years, some waqf properties have been left neglected, mismanaged, or encroached upon. Shockingly, the encroachment and illegal possession are often in the hands of well-known individuals. Besides, due to poor oversight, the properties are often undervalued, sold, or rented out to vested groups or persons. The objective of community well-being has been lost owing to laxity, corruption within the system, opaqueness, and dysfunction of some state waqf boards. No government thought it necessary to enact a genuine overhaul of the waqf management system. Sadly, the state of some boards today defeats the very purpose and intent of waqf. Therefore, a thorough examination of the system is overdue. But can this current Bill do it?
The Bill proposes 44 amendments to curb the authority of waqf boards and allow greater control by the government. It proposes changes in the functioning of waqf tribunals, allows non-Muslims to be members, and makes women members on the board mandatory. Some Muslim groups have opposed these on the grounds of their autonomy being eroded and also because they were not consulted in framing these amendments.
Under the new draft law, several ancient monuments, such as the Jama Masjid, qualify as waqf properties and may now be required to be registered on the portal within six months. But what documents would a 400-year-old mosque have to prove itself as a waqf property?
Some years ago, a dome at Delhi’s Jama Masjid was in need of urgent repair. The matter got entangled between the waqf board, the masjid committee, and bodies falling under the authority of the Archaeological Survey of India, and work stalled. Mere transfer of control to the collector would not resolve such matters. Nor is there reason to believe that it would drastically reduce corruption. Besides, the Bill proposes to make the collector the sole authority to decide whether the property belongs to waqf or the government. Based on this decision, she can change the ownership in the revenue records, which would be binding on all sides. The fear that this provision is open to misuse cannot be dismissed.
But there is a larger context. Some concerned citizens and groups have been calling for reform in waqf management for a long time. The United Progressive Alliance government moved certain key amendments to the law in 2013 but stopped short of an overhaul. This amendment made it possible for any Indian, irrespective of her faith, to dedicate her property for waqf. Renowned RTI activist Salim Baig from Moradabad repeatedly pursued transparency through audit and digitisation of records of waqf properties for years. In 2013, the Supreme Court issued notices to the state governments on his public interest litigation, asking them to commit to a timeframe and budget for a basic audit of records. It is believed that if done correctly, waqf properties can generate an income running into hundreds of crores of rupees yearly. This money can then be utilised for education, vocational skill-building, and other relevant purposes to support children and women from poor backgrounds.
The government says that it is only pursuing the recommendations of the 2006 Rajinder Sachar committee by bringing in these amendments. If the spirit of genuine welfare and well-being as demonstrated by the Sachar committee is imbibed by JPC and enacted into the draft with genuine consultation and building of trust with the community, the Bill has the potential to become a milestone law.
Zakia Soman is co-founder of Bharatiya Muslim Mahila Andolan and a women’s rights activist.The views expressed are personal
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