Despite clear majorities in Parliament, the fierce opposition to the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2025 reveals how deeply rooted the politics of appeasement remains in our democracy-one that echoes the tragic disunity of our past.
In the vast chronicle of Bharat’s civilizational journey, there exists a recurring tragedy-whenever the nation stands at the threshold of reform, forces emerge from within to resist it in the name of identity, fear, or misplaced righteousness. The recent passage of the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2025, though legislatively a success, has exposed once again the old wounds of internal disunity that have plagued this land since the time of foreign invasions. The Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2025 was passed with a decisive mandate-288 votes in favor and 232 against in the Lok Sabha, and 128 to 95 in the Rajya Sabha. The legislation aims to bring transparency, accountability, and legal oversight to the administration of waqf properties, which have for decades functioned with minimal scrutiny, despite holding thousands of acres of land and significant public interest.
Yet, instead of supporting this long-overdue reform, major opposition parties such as the Indian National Congress, Trinamool Congress (TMC), Samajwadi Party (SP), and the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena faction rallied against it. Their rejection of the bill wasn’t a surprise-it was the latest act in a longer playbook of political opportunism, masked as minority protection.
From Mughals to Modern Times: The Exploitation of Division
To understand the politics behind the opposition, we must revisit our history. The Mughals did not merely defeat Bharat through war-they succeeded because our own rulers failed to stand united. Internal rivalries, personal ambition, and short-sighted alliances allowed foreign invaders to establish dominance, plunder wealth, desecrate temples, and divide societies.
What was true in the medieval era continued under British colonialism. Policies like divide and rule thrived on the same fundamental weakness: Bharat’s inability to stand as one.That same mindset persists today-only now, it wears modern clothes. What the sword once achieved through conquest, is now achieved through ballot-box calculations, appeasement politics, and fear-based narratives. The opposition to the Waqf Bill is not a defense of faith-it is a defense of control.
Contrary to the fearmongering, the bill does not target any religion. It merely calls for the regular auditing of waqf properties, protection from illegal encroachments, and accountability in management-standards we demand from every other institution that holds public assets.
Had this bill pertained to Hindu temple trusts, Christian missionary schools, or any other religious entity, there would have been broad consensus. But because it applies to waqf, political parties see it as an opportunity to posture before their perceived minority vote banks.
Their opposition is not about the Constitution-it is about preserving a political economy built on identity. They would rather protect a centuries-old opaque system than risk losing ground in the next election.
The behavior of Congress and its ideological allies in opposing this bill is not just disappointing-it’s revealing. Once the party of independence and nation-building, the Congress of today seems more comfortable with policies that mirror the British Raj’s divide-and-rule formula. The TMC, SP, and others follow suit-not out of principle, but out of electoral insecurity.
Their opposition reveals a chilling truth: they fear an India governed by uniform laws and equal standards, because such an India would erode their power to divide, placate, and manipulate.
Appeasement Isn’t Secularism
We must draw a line between genuine secularism-which treats all faiths equally before the law-and appeasement politics, which grants selective immunity to one for political favors. The former strengthens democracy. The latter destroys it from within.
By projecting reforms as communal, these parties fan unnecessary divisions and weaken public trust. When reforms are resisted not on merit, but because they threaten old power structures, it is not democracy at work-it is demagoguery disguised as dissent.
From the fall of kingdoms under Mughal invasions to the divide-and-rule policies of the British, Bharat has paid dearly for its disunity. Cultural treasures were destroyed, temples looted, cities razed-not because we were weak, but because we were divided.
Today, we are a sovereign republic with strong institutions. Yet, the ghosts of division still haunt us when political actors choose votes over vision. The debate over the Waqf Amendment Bill is not about waqf alone-it is a mirror reflecting how old mindsets survive by opposing new Bharat’s reforms.
From the Mughals to the British, Bharat has paid a heavy price for its internal divisions-not just in land lost, but in cultural heritage destroyed, social cohesion shattered, and collective spirit weakened. Today, in the halls of Parliament, we witness an eerie repetition of that legacy.
The Waqf (Amendment) Bill is a step forward. A step toward bringing centuries-old structures into the light of transparency and law. Those who oppose it not only resist reform-they resist progress.
It is time we, as a nation, rise above the legacy of self-serving politics and recognize these acts for what they are: modern-day betrayals wearing the mask of secularism. True secularism lies in equal law for all-not in special privileges for a few.
History has taught us what happens when we are divided. Let us not be forced to learn that lesson again.
