Waqf Bill: Government must eliminate suspicion from minds of Muslims, says Women Law Board chief

The president of the All Indian Muslim Women Personal Law Board has asked the government to dispel suspicions and bridge the gap with the community so that its stated aims in bringing about the Waqf amendments can be realised.

Shaista Ambar, who is a social activist, said in Lucknow that the nature of Waqf land was such that it could neither be bought or sold, but only be used for the benefits of the most deprived. To ensure that this was done, the government should appoint well-respected people from the community who were working in the spirit of brotherhood, to ensure that the amendments were implemented in the right manner.

Ambar said that it was essential that such people who were well versed in Muslim law should be appointed as chairpersons/directors and ministers to implement the changes. Such a step would eliminate from the minds of Muslims such suspicions that the government would try to force something that was not in consonance with the spirit of Islam.

A long-time advocate of housing, health and livelihood training for the most disadvantaged–among them orphans, abandoned elderly, destitute women–Ambar reiterated that correct use of Waqf land would alleviate the suffering of those most in need. And that this would contribute to nation building. The use of Waqf land, as intended, would allow the disadvantaged to live a life of self-respect and independence.

She has said that only those people who had the interests of the nation and the community at heart could help with the government’s vision of helping the needy and eliminating land grabs. These could be judges, senior bureaucrats, or social workers she said. The other criteria being that they should be widely respected by Muslims of all classes.

The government would have to take the first step to eliminate all controversies that were surrounding the amendments, she said.

India