Waqf Board: Guardianship or Seizure

While exiting a hospital sheltering the refugees, multiple bullets were fired at Gandhi, but he managed to escape. The bullets came from the rooftop of a certain religious building. Patel, being the quick administrator, ordered a probe and found multiple cartridges and bombs in their houses. Unregulated use of property and unchecked acquisition that the Wakf Act of 1995 allows (without mandatory verification) leads to breeding grounds for delinquency. As of now, wakf has around 8 lakh properties. The decision comes on the 5th August, the date on which article 370 was quashed and Ayodhya Bhoomi Pujan took place.

A secular country having an act that allows any religious way of controlling properties seems useless.

Background for amendments

In recent years, cases of encroachments on wakf land have increased, bringing the law into question. The Supreme Court has directed authorities to rigorously remove such encroachments. The powers of the Chief Executive Officer of the Wakf Board need enhancement to smoothly remove such obstructions.

(Source: OpIndia)

The proposed amendments

A Chief Executive Officer shall be appointed to deal with the matter. In the new bill, Section 55A has been removed in order to remove the multiplicity of proceedings.

Inclusion of women and their representation in wakf council to ensure welfare of Muslim community is another feature.

It also involves mapping of wakf properties.

If the Chief Executive Officer finds any encroachment, it will be removed. The individual connected with the property will be given ample time to be heard.

Any hawking on Wakf property is liable to a fine. District Magistrate will be included in the process.

Whatever losses are suffered will be compensated by the guilty individual according to market prices. The compensation will be determined by the chief executive officer, post-evaluation.

Encroachments may include misuse of property, changing the nature of property, creating communal divides, using property to hoard illegal items, et cetera.

The bill will not only reduce misuse of the act and encroachment but also reduce the ongoing communal tensions, serve justice to minorities, and provide reassurance.

Political Tango on the bill

Source: Parliamentarian

Once again, the communal jibes have begun. Veteran leader Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi has come out in support of the bill and asked the wakf to come out of their “touch me not” attitude. Owaisi has blamed the ruling party and Sangh of communal division. Policies of correction should not be seen as politics of exclusion.

What can be anticipated?

Another round of misinformed activism and political blame games will unfold. Clerics will assume democratic channels onto themselves. The bill should have been brought long before; however, it should be implemented effectively, and information regarding the same should be imparted with transparency.