Despite Islamic injunctions prohibiting non-Muslims from managing Waqf properties, the amended legislation provides for including non-Muslims in Waqf boards, according to the resolution.”This is an attack on the constitutional right of Muslims to practice their religion,” the CPI(M) said.By making it mandatory that only a Muslim who can prove that he or she has followed the religion for at least five years can donate land to Waqf boards, the amended legislation is opening the way for harassment of Muslims and can actually prevent them from creating or contributing to Waqf properties, it further said.Many non-Muslims also contribute to building of mosques etc and this expression of brotherhood and fraternity will no longer be possible under the amended law, it added.”Under the new amendments, the majority of Waqf properties in the country – those declared orally or through usage – will become vulnerable to government takeover,” the CPI(M) said in the resolution.Through the amended legislation, states such as Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Kerala that have large Waqf holdings will face targeted appropriation of these assets, the Left party warned.”By transferring the authority to determine Waqf properties from the survey commissioner to government-appointed revenue officials, the government aims to seize places of worship, educational institutions, healthcare facilities, and vocational centres, thereby consolidating control over Waqf assets,” according to the resolution.The CPI(M) said the new mandate requiring the registration of thousands of Waqf properties historically established through long-term usage exposed the government’s covert agenda to confiscate them.”Through these amendments, the central government is advancing its agenda of eradicating the rights of Muslims, mirroring the exclusionary intent of the Citizenship Amendment Act,” the Left party added.The CPI(M), in its resolution, called on all secular and democratic-minded citizens to unite to demand withdrawal of the proposed legislation.
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