Will Expose Those Who Have Looted Waqf Properties, Says Union Minister Kiren Rijiju

Union minister Kiren Rijiju on Tuesday accused the Congress and its allies of misleading Muslims by spreading lies that the Waqf Amendment Act will rob them of their burial grounds and properties.

Speaking to members of the Muslim community in Mumbai in a meeting organised as part of the 'Waqf Reform Public Awareness Campaign', Rijiju said that India has over 972,000 Waqf endowments, a majority of which are not used for the benefit of the Muslim poor who were meant to be its primary beneficiaries. “In fact the properties are being misused. The main aim of the Waqf Amendment Law is to help poor Muslims get benefits from Waqf properties and stop the misuse of the endowments,” said Rijiju.

Rijiju said that Narendra Modi's government stands for the rights of the poor, irrespective of their religion. “We will continue our efforts to give the poor their rights. The opposition parties are lying by telling Muslims that they will lose their graveyards and properties. This is a big lie. Can you take away anybody's property or masjids so easily in this country? Is it possible?,” he asked.

The Waqf Law is a tool to give Muslims their rights, not to take their properties, Rijiju said, accusing mutawalis, or caretakers of Waqf endowments, and politicians, of stealing the properties. He said that the law will bring transparency in the management of the properties with the help of centralised portals and registrations of trusts.

The minister said that opposition parties were provoking people to protest on the streets, leading to situations like the one in Murshidabad, West Bengal. “Mamata Banerjee and other Chief Ministers have said that they will not implement the Waqf (Amendment) Act, a law passed by the Parliament. By not obeying the law, they are disobeying the Constitution,” the Minority Affairs Minister said. “We work under a federal structure. She (Banerjee) can oppose the Act in theory, but she cannot say that she will not implement a law passed by Parliament in the state."

Rijiji said that lakhs of members of the Muslim community have come forward to thank him and Prime Minister Narendra Modi for enacting the Waqf Act. “Do not believe the claim that all Muslims are opposed to the law. Only those who treat Muslims as votebanks are opposing the law,” he said.

He further added that his government will expose those who looted Muslim properties in the name of Waqf. “The law has been made. We will now make the rules to implement the law. We will ensure that the injustice done in the last 77 years is readressed.”

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