The Lok Sabha has passed the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2025, which aims to regulate the Waqf properties by proposing amendments in the Waqf Act, 1995.
The Bill was tabled before the House on Wednesday. It was introduced by Union Minister Kiren Rijiju and passed at around 2 am on Thursday, after a marathon debate of over 12 hours.
While 288 Members of Parliament (MPs) voted in favour of the Bill, 232 opposed the legislation.
Rijiju said the Bill did not infringe on the religious rights of Muslims, but pertained only to the management of property.
He further said that if the legislation was not brought up now, even the Parliament building would have been claimed as Waqf.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah said there was a huge misconception that the proposed amendment would interfere with the religious affairs or Muslims or property dedicated by them.
Not even one non-Muslim would come into the waqf, he assured.
BJP MP Tejasvi Surya said the Bill would undo the constitutional fraud imposed on the country by the Congress party.
Condemning the legislation, Congress MP from Assam Gaurav Gogoi termed it an ‘attack’ on the basic structure of the Constitution.
All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) MP from West Bengal Kalyan Banerjee said the Bill was a clear violation of the right of Muslims to perform and manage their religious affairs under Article 26 of the Constitution.
Accusing the Bharatiya Janata Party of attacking religious minorities in the country, Congress MP KC Venugopal said the world was watching the ruling party, as it was trying to divide the country for political benefit.
Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP) MP from Kerala NK Premachandran noted that the Bill mandated presence of non-Muslim members on the Waqf Board. He asked whether the same rules applied for devaswom boards of temples.
Independent MP from Jammu and Kashmir, Abdul Rashid Sheikh, claimed that the Bill got easily passed in the Lok Sabha as the ruling party had majority in the Lower House.
There was a numbers game at play and the Muslims of this country were stuck in between, he added.
Congress MP from Kerala, Advocate K Francis George, refuted the claims that the Bill could help resolve the ongoing Munambam-waqf dispute in Kerala.
He said the Munambam dispute could be resolved by making ambiguous provisions of the Act unambiguous. This could be done without affecting the fundamental rights of Muslims, he added.
Tearing a copy of the legislation, All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) MP Asaduddin Owaisi termed it a mockery of democracy. He alleged that the government was trying to nominate it’s pawns in the Waqf Council and Waqf Board by calling them religion neutral.
The Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2025 was first introduced in the Lok Sabha in August 2024.
The legislation was later sent to the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC), which accepted suggestions for certain amendments.
Waqf refers to properties dedicated exclusively for religious or charitable purposes under the Islamic law. The Waqf Act, 1995, was enacted to govern the administration of waqf properties Properties (religious endowments) in India.
It provides for the power and functions of the Waqf Council, State Waqf Boards, the Chief Executive Officer, and the mutawalli. The Act further speaks about the power and restrictions of Waqf Tribunals, which act in lieu of a civil court under its jurisdiction.
The Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2025, seeks to rename the 1995 Act to the Unified Waqf Management, Empowerment, Efficiency and Development Act, reflecting its broader objective to improve the management and efficiency of Waqf boards and properties.
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