Jamaat-e-Islami Hind says Waqf Bill paves way for legislative discrimination against Muslims
New Delhi (PTI): Muslim organisation Jamaat-e-Islami Hind (JIH) on Wednesday slammed the Waqf Bill as "highly condemnable" and alleged that it paves the way for legislative discrimination against Muslims.
The assertion came as the Bill was being debated in the Lok Sabha.
JIH president Syed Sadatullah Husaini strongly opposed the Waqf (Amendment) Bill terming it "a highly condemnable" move that paves the way for legislative discrimination against Muslims.
He pointed out that the provisions of the Waqf Act of 1995, which the bill seeks to revoke, are not exclusive to Muslims, and other religious communities also have similar rights.
The endowment laws of various religious communities include provisions that restrict their management boards to members of their respective faiths, he said.
"They also allow for 'temples by users' similar to 'Waqf by user' and grant exemptions from laws such as the Limitation Act. However, Muslims alone are being singled out and deprived of these rights, which is blatant legislative discrimination and a dangerous precedent," Husaini alleged.
"The Bill introduces sweeping changes to the Waqf Act, 1995, increasing governmental interference in managing Waqf properties and fundamentally altering their religious character," he said.
This is a direct violation of Article 26 of the Constitution, which guarantees religious minorities the right to manage their religious institutions, the Jamaat president said.
Despite widespread opposition and millions of objections from the public, the government disregarded the feedback it received from the main stakeholders of the Bill, he claimed.
It appeared as if the consultative process was just a formality and the decision to pass the Bill had been predetermined, rendering public opinion and stakeholder concerns irrelevant, Husaini said.
He strongly criticised certain media outlets for misleading the public with false narratives. Husaini emphasised that the Bill does nothing to curb corruption, illegal occupation, or misuse of Waqf properties.
The Jamaat-e-Islami Hind calls upon all secular parties, opposition leaders, and NDA allies to resist this unjust Bill, he said.
"It is disappointing that some parties, despite claiming to be secular, have chosen to support it. They must not succumb to political pressure from the BJP and participate in communal politics. If they fail to oppose this bill, history will remember their betrayal, and justice-loving citizens will hold them accountable," he said.
If this bill is passed undemocratically, protests will be expanded nationwide under the leadership of the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) along with other Muslim organisations, Husaini said.
"The law would be challenged through all constitutional, legal, democratic, and peaceful means. The struggle against this injustice will continue until the rights of the community are fully restored," he said.
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'Last rites' of INDIA bloc: BJP on Cong-DMK fallout in Tamil Nadu
New Delhi (PTI): The BJP on Wednesday took a swipe at the Congress for extending support to Vijay's TVK in forming the government in Tamil Nadu and breaking away from its long term ally DMK, saying the party has a history of "betraying" its allies.
The saffron party also attacked the opposition INDIA bloc, claiming the alliance is "falling apart like a pack of cards" and lacks any common ideology or vision.
The Tamil Nadu Congress has decided to support TVK leader Vijay in forming a secular government in the state, sources said.
The decision to support the TVK was taken at an urgent meeting of the Political Affairs Committee (PAC) of Tamil Nadu Congress late on Tuesday night.
Reacting to the development, BJP national spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla claimed the INDIA alliance had effectively come to an end after the declaration of assembly election results on May 4.
"There is nobody whom the Congress has not deceived. Imagine what they will do to the Samajwadi Party if they have done this to the DMK," he wrote in a post on X.
Calling it the "last rites" of the INDIA bloc, Poonawalla, in a video post, said, "It has become a Bharat free of the DMK, TMC and the Left, and now Congress has dumped the DMK for the TVK."
The BJP spokesperson alleged that the opposition bloc was formed solely out of political compulsions and personal ambitions.
"The INDI alliance never had any mission or vision. It was only about ambition for position, corruption, commission and obsession against Modi ji that they came together. But now it is all falling apart like a pack of cards," he said.
Questioning the unity of the opposition parties, Poonawalla said the alliance was absent in several states during the election.
"Where was the INDI alliance in Bengal, in Kerala, in Gujarat, in Punjab, in Delhi, in Haryana, in Karnataka? There is no INDI alliance," he said.
The DMK on Wednesday described the Congress move to extend support to TVK as a "backstab" by its long-time national ally.
Speaking to PTI videos, DMK spokesperson Saravanan Anadurai said, "The Congress party has decided to ally with the TVK, pledging their support to the party. I think they have backstabbed... They have backstabbed the people of Tamil Nadu. They've backstabbed the mandate given by the people of Tamil Nadu."
He said that the decision came even before the electoral process had fully concluded.
"Even before the ink on the returning officer's signature on the victory certificate dried up, they've chosen to go ahead with an alliance," he said.
Vijay's TVK won 108 seats in the 234-member Tamil Nadu Assembly, falling short of the halfway mark. He needs the support of 10 MLAs to form a government with a simple majority. The results were declared only on Monday.
The Congress has won five seats, while the Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) has bagged four seats. The CPI and CPI-M have two seats each. The outgoing ruling party, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), has won 59 seats while the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) has won 47 seats.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has won only one seat, and so have the Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam (DMDK) and the Amma Makkal Munnettra Kazagam (AMMK), while the VCK has won two seats.
The Congress had fought the assembly polls in a pre-poll alliance with the DMK, while the BJP had a tie-up with the AIADMK.
