India: Lok Sabha passes Waqf Amendment Bill after marathon, heated debate

Times of Oman

03-04-2025

New Delhi: The Lok Sabha passed the Waqf Amendment Bill 2025 on Thursday after a marathon and heated debate during which members of INDIA bloc fiercely opposed the legislation while BJP and its allies in strongly supported it, saying it will bring transparency and enhance the efficiency of Waqf boards.
The bill was passed after amendments made by the opposition members were negatived. The House sat beyond midnight to pass the legislation.
After a reply to the debate by Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju, Speaker Om Birla announced that the House is taking up item no 12 in the listed business - The Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2025 - for a decision of the House. He said the question is whether the bill should be taken up for consideration and then said the lobbies should be cleared.
He later announced the result of division. "Subject to correction, Ayes 288, Noes 232. The majority is in favour of the proposal," he said.
Parties in INDIA bloc had decided to oppose the bill and their members voted accordingly. They also pressed for division on some amendments. An amendment was negatived with 231 members voting in favour and 238 against it.
The revised bill was brought by the government after incorporating recommendations of the Joint Parliamentary Committee which examined the legislation which was introduced in August last year.
In his reply to the debate, Rijiju said slammed the opposition parties for terming Waqf Amendment Bill as "unconstitutional", Minority Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju said the law relating to Waqf property has been in existence for decades and has not been struck down by courts and such words should not be used lightly.
The Mussalman Wakf (Repeal) Bill, 2024' has also been passed in Lok Sabha.
The debate on Lok Sabha that lasted almost 12 hours.
Rijiju said that after the bill is passed, the poor in the Muslim community will thank Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The House sat beyond midnight to pass the bill.
"Crores of poor Muslims will thank PM Modi on the bill being passed," he said.
Rijiju rejected criticism by opposition members that the Bill was "anti-Muslim" and said some members were just not prepared to accept the truth despite Home Minister Amit Shah nicely elucidating on all issues.
"I want to thank all the leaders for keeping their views regarding the Bill... Some leaders are saying that the bill is unconstitutional, and I want to ask them how they could say that the bill is unconstitutional. If it was unconstitutional, why didn't the court strike it down?... words like unconstitutional should not be used...the Bill is not against the Constitution, as the opposition claimed...We should not use the words 'constitutional' and 'unconstitutional' so lightly," he said.
Earlier, in his speech, Home Minister Amit Shah said that the opposition is trying to build its vote bank by scaring the minority community.
He said the government does not want to interfere in the religious activities of Muslim brothers and the trusts associated with their donations.
"No non-Islamic member will get a place in the Waqf Board's work related to religious donations. Work of non-Muslim members, appointed in the Waqf Board or its premises, will not be related to religious activities. A person of any religion can become the Charity Commissioner, he will ensure that the board is run according to charity law, this is the administrative work, not religious," the Home Minister said.
"The work of the Waqf Board should be to catch and throw out those who sell Waqf properties. The opposition wants the collusion that was going on in their rule to continue, but this will not happen now," he added.
Amit Shah said had the Waqf law not been amended in 2013, there would have been no need to bring this bill.
"In 2013, Waqf law was made extreme overnight for appeasement, due to which 123 VVIP properties of Lutyens zone in Delhi were given to Waqf," he said.
The Home Minister also spoke of extensive consultations done by the Joint Parliamentary Committee which examined the Waqf Bill.
"We formed a joint committee, 38 meetings were held, 113 hours of discussion took place and 284 stakeholders were included and about one crore online suggestions came from all over the country from all these and after analyzing all these, this law was made and it cannot be rejected like this," he said.
Participating in the debate, BJP MP Jagdambika Pal, who headed the JPC, said it is among the most important legislations in the third term of Modi government.
The bill was earlier moved for consideration and passing in the House by Rijiju.
The bill seeks to amend the Act of 1995. The Bill seeks to improve the administration and management of waqf properties in India. It aims to overcome the shortcomings of the previous act and enhance the efficiency of Waqf boards, improving the registration process and increasing the role of technology in managing waqf records.