Profits from Waqf Board assets will be shared with poor minorites: Union min

Hyderabad: Union minister and Telangana BJP chief G Kishan Reddy stated that the profits earned from the Waqf board’s properties will be shared with poor Muslims to support their welfare.

Speaking to the media at the BJP state office in Hyderabad on Thursday, April 17, he said the income generated from Waqf Board assets will be regularly disclosed.

He added that the Narendra Modi government will digitise the properties under the Waqf Board to bring transparency and better management.

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Kishan Reddy said that across the country, lakhs of acres of Waqf land have been encroached upon, and urged the Muslim community “to acknowledge these realities.”

He also called upon BJP leaders to invite people from all communities to district-level meetings and emphasized the need to create public awareness about the key provisions in the Waqf Board Act amendments.

Waqf Board not religious but administrative body: JPC chief

The Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) chief, Jagdambika Pal, on Thursday rejected the inclusion of non-Muslim members in Central Waqf Councils and State Waqf Boards as an ‘encroachment’ in the religious rights of minorities, reasoning that it was essential for better upkeep and maintenance of Waqf properties.

The JPC chief, speaking to IANS, said that the Waqf (Amendment) Act has been brought with a clear motive and i.e. ‘respect for Islam and gift for Muslims’.

“Waqf Boards are not religious but administrative bodies. Hence, if capable and efficient non-Muslims become part of the Board, it will not be an interference in the religious rights of minorities, but it will only enhance transparency, accountability and efficiency in the management of Waqf properties,” Pal said.

The JPC chief’s assertions come amid the hearing of a clutch of petitions by the Supreme Court, where the latter also asked questions about non-Muslims getting a role in the Waqf Board.

JPC chief cites two court rulings

Pal cited two court rulings from 2010 (Ram Rajya Foundation Vs Waqf Board) and 1982 in Karnataka and stated that in both cases, the respective courts adjudged Waqf Boards as administrative bodies.

“As it has been established by court rulings, Waqf Board is an administrative body and the JPC has only recommended strengthening its framework by paving the way for inclusion of capable and efficient managers in the Board,” he said.

He also cited the JPC’s recommendation of inclusion of an Islamic scholar in the Waqf Tribunal as a progressive step.

Addressing the issue of the Collector being the ‘final authority’ in deciding any property dispute, he said that this provision has been altered and now the state-level secretary or Commissioner-level officer will decide the outcome in case of any dispute, thus ruling out any scope of bias.

Allaying apprehensions over removal of the ‘Waqf by user’ clause, he said that the legislation will be effective in prospective and not with retrospective effect.

“It is essential to digitise the records. Going forward, every property that is being given as ‘waqf’ should be in government records. This will only bring transparency and cut down scope for property disputes,” he reasoned.

(With excerpts from IANS)

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