Waqf Bill: The effect of the bill will be seen from the Northeast to tribal-dominated states; claims on protected monuments will end

Under pressure from allies, the BJP made some compromises in the provisions of the Waqf Amendment Bill, but still, if the Bill becomes a law, it will have a huge impact. In particular, the claim of Waqf on ASI-protected monuments will end in one stroke. Apart from this, other properties including land in tribal-dominated states and areas cannot be declared as Waqf property. Apart from this, it will be difficult to save such Waqf property which is not recorded in the revenue records.

In fact, due to a lack of majority on its own in both houses of Parliament, the BJP had to accept some demands of allies. These include provisions like restoring the status quo on mosques and other religious monuments and symbols before the notification of the Bill becoming law is issued, and the state government appointing an officer other than the District Magistrate to settle land-related disputes. In the context of protection of the interests of tribals, the government has banned the declaration of Waqf property in tribal areas, citing the 5th and 6th Schedule of the Constitution. This means that the land and properties of almost the entire Northeast, entire Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh as well as tribal areas of many states of the country including West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh, and Gujarat will not be declared as Waqf property.

Struggle will have to be made to save properties.

Waqf will have to struggle a lot to save its properties. In UP alone, there are 90% of such properties which are not registered in the revenue records. In Bihar, this figure is 70%. There are many such examples in Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, and Kerala. Sources say that to divide the Waqf property, the people involved in it did not get it registered in the revenue records. In such a situation, now the District Magistrate will investigate such properties and give his decision.

BJP will get new energy in Kerala

There was a tussle between Muslims and Christians in Kerala for decades over the Waqf law. The politics of the state has been revolving around the Left-led LDF and the Congress-led UDF. In the absence of a third political force, both these communities were confined to these two alliances. However, the Christian community had been demanding amendment in the Waqf Act for a long time.

The BJP, which is seeing a huge possibility of expansion in the state, has taken the initiative to make a strong foothold in the Christian community by doing this. It is worth noting that the Christian organizations of the state have openly supported this effort of the government.

Claim on many properties in Delhi

At present, the Waqf owns many monuments of ASI across the country. There is a clear provision in the bill that the Waqf will not be able to claim any property or monument protected by the ASI. Understand this from the example of Delhi. Here the Waqf has claimed 123 such properties including Qutub Minar, and Red Fort, which are protected by the ASI. There are more than 500 such cases across the country. In such a situation, as soon as the bill becomes law, the claim of the Waqf on such monuments and property will end in one stroke.