Renowned Islamic Scholar, peace activist Maulana Wahiduddin Khan succumbs to COVID, passes away
New Delhi: Renowned Islamic Scholar and peace activist Maulana Wahiduddin Khan passed away in Delhi on Wednesday evening. The 96-year-old scholar had tested positive for COVID-19 last week and was in ICU at Apollo Hospital in the national capital.
Born in Azamgarh in 1925, Maulana Wahiduddin Khan comes from a family of staunch nationalists who played a key role in the 1857 mutiny for Independence.
A renowned activist, he has also written a two-volume commentary on the Holy Qur’an. To platform the ideas of peaceful coexistence, social harmony, and interfaith dialogue, Khan established the Islamic Centre in Delhi in 1970.
Six years later, he started a monthly magazine called Al-Risala, which primarily comprised his own articles that spoke to the Muslim community about their responsibilities. Al-Risala was launched in both English and Hindi in February 1984 and December 1990, respectively.
He has written over 200 books and a bulk of his oeuvre focused on secularism, inter-faith dialogue, social harmony and freedom of speech.
Khan was awarded India’s second-highest civilian award — the Padma Vibhushan — this year for his exceptional contribution in the field of spiritualism. He was also awarded the Padma Bhushan in 2000.
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TMC MP Mahua Moitra moves SC challenging Waqf (Amendment) Act
New Delhi (PTI): Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Mahua Moitra has also approached the Supreme Court challenging the validity of the Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025.
Meanwhile, a three-judge bench comprising Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Justices Sanjay Kumar and KV Viswanathan has listed for hearing on April 16 ten other petitions, including the one filed by AIMIM leader Asaduddin Owaisi, challenging the validity of the law.
Samajwadi Party MP from Sambhal, Zia-ur-Rahman Barq, had recently also filed a plea on the issue in the apex court.
Moitra, who filed her plea on April 9, has said the controversial amendment not only suffered from serious procedural lapses but also violated several fundamental rights enshrined in the Constitution.
“It is submitted that the violation of parliamentary practices during the law-making process has contributed to the unconstitutionality of the Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025,” the plea said.
“Procedurally, the Chairperson of the Joint Parliamentary Committee flouted parliamentary rules and practices both at the stage of consideration and adoption of the draft report of the Joint Parliamentary Committee on the Waqf Amendment Bill and at the stage of presentation of the said report before Parliament,” it said.
The plea said that dissenting opinions from the opposition MPs were reportedly redacted without justification from the final report presented in Parliament on February 13, 2025.
Such actions undermined the deliberative process of Parliament and violated established norms as outlined in authoritative parliamentary procedure manuals, it said.
The plea said the new law allegedly infringed upon Articles 14 (equality before the law), 15(1) (non-discrimination), 19(1)(a) and (c) (freedom of speech and association), 21 (right to life and personal liberty), 25 and 26 (freedom of religion), 29 and 30 (minority rights), and Article 300A (right to property) of the Constitution.
Moitra sought striking down of the Act in its entirety, citing its procedural irregularities and substantive violations of the Constitution.
AIMIM leader Asaduddin Owaisi, AAP leader Amanatullah Khan, Association for the Protection of Civil Rights, Arshad Madani, Samastha Kerala Jamiathul Ulema, Anjum Kadari, Taiyyab Khan Salmani, Mohammad Shafi, Mohammed Fazlurrahim and RJD leader Manoj Kumar Jha have also moved the top court on the issue.
The All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB), Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) and Congress MPs Imran Pratapgarhi and Mohammad Jawed are other key petitioners in the case.
