Muslim minorities, in large numbers, staged a Maha Dharna protest against the Waqf Amendment Bill 2024 at Vijayawada on Saturday and demanded the cancellation of amendments.
Vijayawada: The Muslim minorities, in large numbers, staged a Maha Dharna protest against the Waqf Amendment Bill 2024 at Vijayawada on Saturday and demanded the cancellation of amendments. The leaders of the All India Muslim Personal Law Board and leaders of other organisations joined the protest.
AIMPLB president Khalid Saifullah Rahmani called upon the people of the country to resist the unconstitutional Waqf Amendment Bill. He questioned how the registration documents of mosques and madrasas, which have existed for hundreds of years, could be found. He stated that since such records do not exist, religious properties are granted legal recognition under the "By User" rule, but this bill aims to abolish such provisions and allows the government to take control of these properties.
Saifullah Rahmani alleged that state governments have already encroached upon lakhs of acres of Waqf land and that this new law is designed to weaken the Waqf system through several illogical amendments.
AIMPLB general secretary Fazlur Rahim Mujahidi emphasised that the protection of Waqf properties is a matter of faith for the Muslim community. He stated that they would explain the potential losses caused by this bill to Chandrababu Naidu and pointed out that despite five crore emails being sent by Muslims to the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) opposing the bill, there has been no response. He also mentioned that Muslims across the country wore black bands yesterday as a mark of protest and strongly condemned inappropriate remarks made by the JPC chairman.
Malik Muhtashim Khan, vice president, JIH, criticised Chandrababu Naidu for blindly supporting Modi’s unconstitutional policies. He warned that supporting this bill would make Naidu a part of history’s dark chapters and a destroyer of the nation’s future. Khan clarified that this bill does not harm only Muslims but also takes away the power of state governments to frame Waqf regulations, as per the Waqf Act of 1995 and its 2013 amendment. He urged Naidu to oppose the bill publicly if he truly considered the NDA government a secular entity.
AIMPLB spokesperson S.Q.R. Ilyas expressed hope that the Telugu Desam, as a secular party and an NDA ally, would not support the bill. He reminded Chandrababu Naidu that if he truly wants to protect Waqf properties, as he stated during the recent Iftar party, he must oppose this bill. He warned that if Naidu supported the bill, it would be seen as backing the BJP’s communal agenda, and Muslims would withdraw their support for TD in the future. He also urged Muslim members within TD to recognise the gravity of the situation.
