Even 'crutches' will not escape responsibility if Waqf Bill passed: Jamiat

Stepping up its campaign against the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, the Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind on Sunday urged TDP's Chandrababu Naidu and JD(U)'s Nitish Kumar to heed the sentiments of Muslims on the matter.

It also cautioned that if the legislation is passed, the "two crutches" on which the BJP-led government is running at the Centre would not be able to escape responsibility.

Jamiat chief Maulana Arshad Madani made the assertion at the prominent Muslim body's 'Save Constitution Convention' held here at the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium.

"People of the country defeated the BJP. They did not accept their policies. This government is dependent on two crutches - a strong one is Chandrababu and the other is Bihar's Nitish Kumar. I had invited him (Naidu), he excused himself but has sent his party's vice president Nawab Jan. I look at this positively as he will convey the sentiments of the people gathered here," Madani said, gesturing to the large gathering of Jamiat functionaries and supporters.

"If the Waqf Bill is passed ignoring the emotions of the Muslims -- it would be as much a responsibility of the crutches as it would be of other powers at the Centre," Madani asserted.

Jamiat has decided that either by the end of this month or in December, it will hold a gathering of around five lakh Muslims in Chandrababu Naidu's "area" and put forward Muslims' feelings before him threadbare.

"If this bill is passed, the crutches on which the government is dependent would not be able to escape responsibility for it," he reiterated.

Madani said the Waqf is established by "our ancestors and is a part of Allah's ownership, with mosques built on it".

"You (government) should protect them because we live in this country and we have not come from outside. If a Hindu is a Gujjar, a Muslim is also a Gujjar...Hindus are Jats, Muslims are also Jats -- They chant slogans saying that Hindus, Muslims, and Sikhs are separate, but we say that 'Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, and Christians sab hai bhai bhai'," the Jamiat chief said.

"There are so many mosques, some of which are 400-500 years old, located in Delhi... There is a section in India that seeks to usurp these mosques... Who can present 500-year-old documents? The law states that any mosque built on Waqf land is indeed Waqf," Madani said.

He also said that the INDIA bloc and Rahul Gandhi had stated in the run-up to the Lok Sabha polls that if they came to power, all minorities would be free to practice their religion, an assertion he appreciated.

"That is why I urged Muslims to support the alliance that gives them the freedom to practice their religion and I am happy that Muslims supported the alliance throughout the country. The alliance moved forward and the BJP was defeated," Madani said.

"I say that if they did not have the crutches of Chandrababu Naidu and Nitish Kumar, the BJP would not have been able to form a government. The policy of divisiveness and trying to burn down the idea of secularism has led them to this state after thumping wins in two earlier elections," the Jamiat chief said.

A Joint Committee of Parliament is examining the contentious Waqf Amendment Bill 2024.

The Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2024 was introduced in Lok Sabha in August and referred to a Joint Parliamentary panel after a heated debate, with the government asserting the proposed law, did not intend to interfere with the functioning of mosques and the Opposition calling it targeting of Muslims and an attack on the Constitution.

The committee's meetings have often seen tempers fly with opposition members accusing the Chair of inviting different organisations, including those working for Hindu causes, that have no stake in the Waqf issues and the BJP members charging their political rivals with deliberately disturbing the proceedings.