
On Friday, the Indian Parliament adopted a controversial proposal for the law, which increases the government’s supervision of the property held by the Muslim Fund, despite loud protests that the religious minority stands out for mixing.
The proposal of the law would allow the appointment of non -Muslims to be guided by the Waqf Committees, and empower civil servants to be court courts.
Waqf -ovi – whose legal foundation is more than 100 years old in India – are one of the largest land owners in the country, operating more than 800,000 real estate that covers almost one million hectares, according to government data. A report from 2006 ordered by the G
The ruling party of Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that changes were needed in the way they trust in improving efficiency and responsibility and prevented abuse.
On the eve of the introduction of the bill in parliament to vote, Kiren Riji, an Indian minister for parliamentary and minority affairs, said the legislation is not an attack on Muslims’ rights, but a necessary reform for the protection of WAQF assets from abuse.
“This is a transparency, not mixing,” Mr. Ria said.
Unlike Mr. Modi’s previous term, when he used an absolute majority to push legislation through parliament with often heavy rapid hands, the proposal of the WAQF Law went through for months of reflection. She also saw two days of passionate but cordial discussion that went at midnight every day before voting.
Sparring – increasingly rare in the legislative body, where fewer laws have become under surveillance and supervision in recent years – was a sign that Mr. Modi, who lost most of the elections last summer, now needs the help of Allied parties to bring legislation. But this also showed that his well -rooted Bharatiya Jadana party managed to get his way even with reduced power and that his parliamentary allies acted only as a mild moderating factor.
Faizan Mustafa, Vicekancer of the Chankay National Law University, said that, although Parliament has the power to bring legislation on religious and charity borrowings, these laws could continue to face further tests in the courts.
“If any provision of the WAQF Law is opposed to the fundamental rights, it could be challenged and may be demolished to the courts,” he said. “There may be an argument that Muslim promissory notes are treated differently from the Hindu Act in some places,” he added.
Many critics of the new WAQF Law agree that there was a need to improve confidence management. But they also say that they are concerned that the bill is the latest attempt at the ruling Hindu nationalist party to target the largest religious minority in the country.
Although the Constitution protects the rights of religious groups for managing their own affairs, some observers say that this proposal of the law provides a new legal basis for the authorities to target the Muslim community.
In the countries where the BJP of Mr. Modi is in power, officials bulldozed Muslim assets after citing teasing, often ignoring court orders about the proceedings, critics say.
Right-wing groups set out a request for several mosques, claiming in court that they used to be a place of Hindu worsening in spite of Indian laws that prevent the change in the status of a place of worship. The Vigilants also attacked Muslim shrines, taking hammers in the graves.
Imran Prataparhi, a Muslim member of the Parliament from the Indian National Congress of the opposition, said that he did not believe the claims of BJP in the law that the proposal of the Law was intended to use the Muslim community.
“I ask the Government: at least they do not install our worship places, do not manage bulldozers over our homes and be in peace in our graves,” said Mr. Pratapgari.