Waqf Act,1995: A Tool given to Waqf Boards to snatch the property of Hindus ?

 Waqf Act,1995: A Tool given to Waqf Boards to snatch the property of Hindus ?

September 26, 2022, 1:30 PM IST Rajeev Gupta in MYVIEW, India, politics, TOI

 

Waqf Act was first passed by Parliament in 1954. Subsequently it was repealed and a new Waqf Act was passed in 1995 which gave more powers to Waqf Boards. In 2013, this Act was further amended to give unlimited powers to Waqf Boards to snatch anyone’s property, which even could not be challenged in any court of law. In March 2014, just before the commencement of Lok Sabha Elections, the Congress gifted 123 prime properties in Delhi to Delhi Waqf Board by using this law. Due to this black law, thousands of acres of land of Hindus have been snatched away in the country so far. Recently Tamil Nadu waqf Board has declared 6 Villages of Tamil Nadu, including a 1500 years old Hindu Temple as Waqf property. 

Simply put, the Waqf Board has unlimited powers to claim properties in the name of Muslim charity. But to understand how it got this right, we have to turn the pages of history. 

In fact, the Hindus who came to India after partition from Pakistan, their properties in Pakistan were occupied by the Muslims and the Government of Pakistan. But the Government of India gave the land of Muslims who went from India to Pakistan to the Waqf Boards. After which the Waqf Board Act was made in the year 1954. But in the year 1995, by changing the Waqf Board Act, the Waqf Boards were given unlimited rights to acquire land. After which the property of the Waqf Board increased. 

According to the data of Waqf Management System of India, at present there are a total 8,54,509 properties with Waqf Boards which are spread over more than eight lakh acres of land. You will be surprised to know that after the Army and Railways, most of the land is with the Waqf Boards. 

In the year 2009, the properties of the Waqf Board were spread over four lakh acres of land. Which has now more than doubled. Whereas the land in the country is the same as it was before. So, how is the Waqf Board’s land increasing? Wherever the Waqf Board gets the boundary wall of the cemetery done in the country, it considers the land around it as its property. Similarly, illegal shrines and mosques are gradually declared by the Waqf Board as their property. In simple language, people call this encroachment and the Waqf Board has got the right to this encroachment. 

Section 3 of the Waqf Act, 1995 states that if the Waqf “thinks” that the land belongs to a Muslim, then it is the property of the Waqf. It should be noted here that just “thinking of Waqf” is enough, Waqf Board does not need any proof for this. If Waqf accepts that your property is not yours but Waqf Board’s, then you cannot even go to court. You can approach the Waqf Tribunal Court. 

Section 85 of the Waqf Act states that if you cannot satisfy the Waqf Board Tribunal that it is your own land, then you will be ordered to vacate the land. The decision of the Tribunal will be final. No court, not even the Supreme Court, can change the decision of the Waqf Tribunal.

Section 40 of the Waqf Act states that when the Waqf Board lays a claim on the land of a person, it is not the responsibility of the Waqf Board to prove the claim on the land, but the real owner of the land has to prove the ownership of his land. 

That is, if the Waqf Board claims any land, then understand that the Waqf Board has become the owner of the land. 

How a religious law like the Waqf Act has been made applicable in a secular country like India? The question is why is there no such act for Hindus, Christians and Sikhs? Why only for Muslims? See the irony that in the year 1991 the Places of Worship Act was made which says that the religious places which existed at the time of independence of the country will be retained as it is. At the same time, in 1995, the Waqf Act comes into force, which gives the right to the Waqf Board across the country to claim its rights on any property and the aggrieved party cannot even appeal in any court of the country against this. 

It is strange to hear that such an act exists in a secular country, whereas there is no such act in any Muslim country. Muslim countries like Turkey, Libya, Egypt, Sudan, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and Iraq have neither a Waqf Board nor a Waqf Law. There should be no place for Waqf Act in India also. The government should repeal the Waqf Act as the same is clearly unconstitutional.