OPINION | Is new Waqf law good for commonfolk Muslims?

Leaders of Muslim outfits who gathered at Delhi's Talkatora Stadium on Tuesday, at the call of the All India Muslim Personal Law Board, vowed to continue their agitation until the recently enacted Waqf law is withdrawn. AIMPLB has planned a series of countrywide agitations on this issue. Meanwhile, Bihar Governor Arif Mohammad Khan, an Islamic scholar in his own right, has questioned the agitation. He raised questions on why Waqf Boards during the last seven decades did not build schools and hospitals on Waqf properties and instead leased them out to commercial shops, malls and hotels. Khan said, the Holy Quran does say that every pious Muslim should help the poor and the needy, but there is no mention of the word 'Waqf' in the Holy Quran. He said, Maulanas should learn from Christian missionaries who used charities for building good hospitals and schools. Arif Mohammad Khan is right. Shopping complexes, malls, residential societies, five five-star hotels have been built on prime location Waqf properties in most of the cities of India. In Patna's Dak Bungalow area, nearly 30 Waqf properties worth several thousand crores of rupees have either been leased out for a pittance or have been sold to builders who made shopping complexes. In Karnataka, the Waqf Board has rented out 14,855 buildings for commercial use. Out of these 1,672 buildings are in Bengaluru, but they earn hardly Rs 77 crore annually as rent. On one parcel of Waqf land, a five-star hotel came up in Bengaluru. Former Karnataka Minorities Commission chief Anwar Manippadi, in his report, has said that nearly 29,000 acres of Waqf land were leased out by muthawallis (caretakers) for a pittance. Muslims should realise what Arif Mohammad Khan has pointed out. The word 'Waqf' is not there in the Holy Quran, but Maulanas are linking the Waqf issue with religion.  Arif Mohammad Khan has said, the Waqf Boards did not build hospitals and schools on Waqf properties and instead leased them at throwaway rates. The ultimate sufferers are the poor Muslims who need help. Had the Waqf Boards done their work efficiently, there would have been no reason to amend the old Waqf Act. This point must be kept in mind in the ongoing debate on this controversial issue.

India