The Waqf (Modification) Invoice, 2024, was tabled in Parliament within the final session and is now being examined by a joint parliamentary committee (JPC). Underneath Islamic legislation, waqf is a non secular charity. An individual can dedicate their movable or immovable property for spiritual or charitable functions for Muslims. The individual dedicating her property to waqf irrevocably loses possession over it because it now will get transferred to Allah. The property should then be used for group functions comparable to mosques, madrasas, burial grounds, hospitals, and different collective functions. It’s logical {that a} clear and environment friendly system for managing these properties is required. The Waqf Act, 1995 aimed to supply a framework for the administration of those properties. Varied waqf boards, which function independently of one another beneath respective state governments, handle practically 870,000 properties throughout India, with a collective estimated worth of ₹1.5 lakh crore. Disputes come up repeatedly and are referred to quasi-judicial waqf tribunals.
Sadly, over time, some waqf properties have been left uncared for, mismanaged, or encroached upon. Shockingly, the encroachment and unlawful possession are sometimes within the fingers of well-known people. Moreover, resulting from poor oversight, the properties are sometimes undervalued, bought, or rented out to vested teams or individuals. The target of group well-being has been misplaced owing to laxity, corruption throughout the system, opaqueness, and dysfunction of some state waqf boards. No authorities thought it essential to enact a real overhaul of the waqf administration system. Sadly, the state of some boards at the moment defeats the very objective and intent of waqf. Due to this fact, a radical examination of the system is overdue. However can this present Invoice do it?
The Invoice proposes 44 amendments to curb the authority of waqf boards and permit better management by the federal government. It proposes adjustments within the functioning of waqf tribunals, permits non-Muslims to be members, and makes ladies members on the board obligatory. Some Muslim teams have opposed these on the grounds of their autonomy being eroded and in addition as a result of they weren’t consulted in framing these amendments.
Underneath the brand new draft legislation, a number of historic monuments, such because the Jama Masjid, qualify as waqf properties and will now be required to be registered on the portal inside six months. However what paperwork would a 400-year-old mosque must show itself as a waqf property?
Some years in the past, a dome at Delhi’s Jama Masjid was in want of pressing restore. The matter acquired entangled between the waqf board, the masjid committee, and our bodies falling beneath the authority of the Archaeological Survey of India, and work stalled. Mere switch of management to the collector wouldn’t resolve such issues. Neither is there purpose to imagine that it could drastically scale back corruption. Moreover, the Invoice proposes to make the collector the only real authority to determine whether or not the property belongs to waqf or the federal government. Primarily based on this determination, she will be able to change the possession within the income data, which might be binding on all sides. The concern that this provision is open to misuse can’t be dismissed.
However there’s a bigger context. Some involved residents and teams have been calling for reform in waqf administration for a very long time. The United Progressive Alliance authorities moved sure key amendments to the legislation in 2013 however stopped wanting an overhaul. This modification made it attainable for any Indian, regardless of her religion, to dedicate her property for waqf. Famend RTI activist Salim Baig from Moradabad repeatedly pursued transparency by means of audit and digitisation of data of waqf properties for years. In 2013, the Supreme Court docket issued notices to the state governments on his public curiosity litigation, asking them to decide to a timeframe and price range for a fundamental audit of data. It’s believed that if accomplished appropriately, waqf properties can generate an revenue operating into lots of of crores of rupees yearly. This cash can then be utilised for training, vocational skill-building, and different related functions to help youngsters and girls from poor backgrounds.
The federal government says that it is just pursuing the suggestions of the 2006 Rajinder Sachar committee by bringing in these amendments. If the spirit of real welfare and well-being as demonstrated by the Sachar committee is imbibed by JPC and enacted into the draft with real session and constructing of belief with the group, the Invoice has the potential to change into a milestone legislation.
Zakia Soman is co-founder of Bharatiya Muslim Mahila Andolan and a ladies’s rights activist.The views expressed are private
