Castigating the ruling BJP’s NDA allies for “stabbing Muslims in the back” by supporting the Waqf Amendment Bill in Parliament, the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) on Tuesday asked them to push the government to withdraw the contentious law or be ready to face the community’s opposition everywhere.
A slew of leaders from several leading Muslim organisations as well as the Opposition parties attended the “Save Waqf” conference organised by the AIMPLB at Talkatora Stadium in Delhi. Interestingly, Shia cleric Kalbe Jawad, who has been a BJP supporter for several years, was also present at the event.
Noting that JD(U) president and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, TDP chief and Andhra Pradesh CM Chandrababu Naidu, LJP (RV) chief Chirag Paswan, NCP president Ajit Pawar, and HAM (S) leader Jitan Ram Manjhi had backed the Waqf Bill in Parliament, AIMPLB general secretary Mohammad Fazlur Rahim told the conclave: “They have stabbed Muslims in the back. I appeal to all Muslims and justice-loving citizens to identify these parties, which stand in opposition to the Constitution… They should either force the government to withdraw the Act or get ready to face opposition from us everywhere.” He also cautioned Muslims about the Centre’s alleged attempts to create Mir Jaffars (traitors) within the community.
Referring to the Supreme Court’s move to defer the hearing on the pleas challenging the Waqf Amendment Act to May 5 after recording the Centre’s assurance that it would neither denotify the waqf properties, including waqf-by-user, nor make any appointments to the Waqf Boards and the Council, Rahim said the community should not be content with such an interim relief as their demand is the repeal of the law. “We will continue this fight till our last breath,” he said, urging the Hindu community as well as other non-Muslims to come together and join the fight against the allegedly discriminatory law.
Samajwadi Party (SP) MP Dharmendra Yadav echoed Rahim’s views. “Be it Deve Gowda in Karnataka, Nitish or Jayant (Chaudhary), you should pledge to teach them a lesson through politics… Start with the Bihar elections so that they will not dare to fight against anybody’s rights,” he told the gathering, assuring the AIMPLB of the party’s support.
Claiming that the fight was not confined to Muslims and that “every Indian was rallying behind them”, RJD MP Manoj Kumar Jha expressed gratitude to the apex court for giving “some relief on three-four issues”. “However, there are several clauses, sections and sub-sections on which we want clarity,” he said.
Former BSP MP Salim Ansari urged the AIMPLB to hold programmes against the law in Uttar Pradesh.
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Slamming the Centre over a BJP MP’s remarks questioning the existence of Waqfs in Muslim countries, AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is on a two-day visit to Saudi Arabia, to enquire about the matter with Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman. “The concept of Waqf exists in every Muslim country, be it a democracy or monarchy,” he said.
Calling the BJP’s claims in its 16-page booklet and four-page pamphlet on the Waqf Act a “bunch of lies”, Owaisi alleged that the Centre had brought the legislation “not to protect Waqf but to make Waqf land-grabbers into their owners”.
© The Indian Express Pvt Ltd
