In the annals of Indian legislative history, few laws have caused as much confusion, controversy, and corruption as the Waqf Act of 1995. Enacted by a Congress-led government, the law—hastily drafted and poorly implemented—conferred sweeping, unchecked powers on Waqf Boards, setting the stage for what many critics now call an “unaccountable parallel empire.” With vague provisions and little oversight, the Waqf Act did more than manage Islamic religious properties; it triggered land disputes across the country, sowed communal discord, and allowed the encroachment of temples, schools, graveyards, and even entire villages under the guise of religious endowment.
The story did not end there. Just before losing power in 2014, the Congress government pushed through the 2013 amendments, expanding the Waqf Boards’ powers even further—virtually opening the floodgates for mass land acquisition without due process. These amendments were not just ill-conceived; they were dangerously anti-democratic. With them, the stage was set for a land grab so widespread that lakhs of acres of real estate fell under Waqf claims, often without the knowledge or consent of actual landowners.
Enter 2024. In a decisive legislative move, the Narendra Modi-led BJP government passed the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2024, a landmark law that seeks to restore legal clarity, constitutional balance, and property rights to thousands of citizens who were rendered helpless under the old regime. With this amendment, the government has not only dismantled one of the most arbitrary legal mechanisms in independent India but also struck at the root of what had become a nexus of corruption, communal appeasement, and institutionalised land appropriation.
Ground realities from across India
The rationale behind the 2024 amendments becomes clearer when examining real-world cases that reveal how the Waqf structure had turned into a land-grabbing syndicate. Ironically, the accused and the victims both belong to the Muslim community only.
Here’s the list:
· Burhanpur, MP (Dec 2023): Waqf property no. 647/660 was leased to Abrar Saheb for 11 months. He attempted illegal permanent construction and tried to capture the land.
· Neemuch, MP (Aug 2024): Yusuf Chhipa illegally built a structure on Waqf land in the Jama Masjid area. Authorities demolished it with bulldozers.
· Indore, MP (June 2023): Dilpukar Shah was caught encroaching and attempting to sell 2,436 sq. ft. of land from Mauj Ali Sarkar Dargah. The illegal sale was blocked.
· Bhopal, MP (June 2024): Media reported that out of 124 cemeteries listed as Waqf, only 24 physically existed; the rest were illegally occupied, often by members of the same community.
· Bhiwandi, Maharashtra (Mar 2021): A cemetery trustee moved a boundary wall to convert Waqf graveyard land into commercial space. Locals protested.
· Ahmednagar, Maharashtra (Apr 2021): Illegal construction began inside the Jama Masjid by Gyasuddin Sheikh. The local Muslim community opposed it.
· Deglur, Maharashtra (Oct 2021): A Congress leader, with help from land mafias, captured land of Ziauddin Rafai Dargah. Activist Sheikh Sailani who exposed it received death threats.
· Pune, Maharashtra (June 2022): 45 acres of Waqf land in Kondhwa were sold illegally to a builder. Waqf officials who tried to intervene were threatened with death by Salman and Shoaib Qazi.
· Sambhajinagar, Maharashtra (Aug 2023): Authorities demolished illegal structures on 6 acres of Waqf land in Bangao village.
· Beed, Maharashtra (Aug 2024): Part of a 276-acre land belonging to Sangeen Masjid was illegally sold by Waqf Board member Sameer Qazi. A petition is in the High Court.
· Moradabad, UP (Oct 2018): Former IAS officer Zuhair Bin Saghir allegedly transferred crores worth of Waqf land to associates.
· Patna, Bihar (July 2020): Kamran Ali and others were accused of illegally selling properties from the Altaf Nawab Waqf Estate and embezzling crores.
Multi-crore scams and institutional failure
Beyond land encroachments, the financial scams within Waqf Boards expose a deeper rot. From multi-crore fraud in Karnataka, where a 2012 committee exposed misuse of 22,000 acres implicating 38 Congress leaders (allegedly including Union Minister Mallikarjun Kharge), to bribery scandals in Madhya Pradesh and illicit compensations in Maharashtra, the entire Waqf system had become a den of unchecked corruption.
Here’s the list:
· Indore, MP (Dec 2024): Ex-chairman Shaukat Mohammad Khan caused a Rs 2 crore loss through arbitrary rent decisions. EOW initiated a probe.
· Bhopal, MP (Apr 2024): Secretary Syed Ali filed a complaint against Yasir Arafat for embezzling Rs 5.5 lakh and taking bribes from religious officials.
· Ujjain, MP (June 2024): Congress leader Riaz Khan was served a Rs 7 crore recovery notice for mismanaging Waqf assets for 26 years.
· Pune, Maharashtra (Aug 2021): Imtiaz Shaikh and others faked NOCs to claim Rs 7.75 crore compensation from the govt. ED registered a case.
· Kerala (2010–2016): The M.A. Nissar Commission found 676 acres of Waqf land illegally sold. High Court ordered implementation of the report.
· Karnataka (2012): The Anwar Manippady Committee exposed a Rs 2 lakh crore scam involving 22,000 acres of misused Waqf land, implicating 38 Congress leaders including Mallikarjun Kharge.
· UP (May 2017): Shia cleric Maulana Kalbe Jawad met CM Yogi Adityanath seeking a CBI probe into rampant Waqf corruption.
· Saharanpur, UP (Oct 2021): Shadab Abdi accused land mafias and corrupt officials of looting Waqf land in collusion.
· Mumbai, Maharashtra (Mar 2017): A Rs 2,500 crore scam involving underworld figures, politicians, and the then Minority Minister Arif Naseem Khan was uncovered. ED intercepted a call about grabbing Waqf land using police and political connections.
· Prayagraj, UP (Dec 2020): A 200-year-old Shia Imambara was demolished and replaced with a commercial complex. Allegations point to gangster-turned-politician Atiq Ahmed and his aide, supported by the Samajwadi Party.
The Amendments
1. “Waqf by User”
One of the most egregious provisions of the 1995 Act was the concept of “Waqf by user,” an absurd legal fiction that allowed land to be declared Waqf merely on the grounds that it had been used as such, regardless of ownership documents or legal title. This vague clause enabled entire villages, farmlands, schools, and even Hindu temples to be unilaterally declared as Waqf property, triggering lawsuits, protests, and in many cases, communal unrest.
The 2024 amendment has rightly abolished this provision. Now, land can be declared Waqf only if there is proper legal documentation and a formal endowment by a practicing Muslim of at least five years. Moreover, the law mandates the inclusion of female heirs, a long-overdue step toward correcting the patriarchal misuse of religious customs that often denied Muslim women their property rights.
2. No more backdoor entry to Government land
The original Act was conveniently vague on whether Waqf Boards could claim government land. This legal gray area allowed for rampant encroachments on public property. The new amendment closes this loophole for good. If a dispute arises, the District Collector, a trained revenue officer, will investigate. If the land is found to be government-owned, it cannot be declared Waqf under any circumstances.
3. End of unilateral authority and sham surveys
Under the old system, Waqf Boards functioned as judge, jury, and beneficiary. They could notify any land as Waqf without informing or consulting actual owners. This Kafkaesque legal setup led to widespread harassment and litigation. The 2024 amendment puts an end to this unilateral power. Now, all Waqf declarations must undergo independent scrutiny, protecting thousands of citizens from arbitrary decisions.
Previously, Waqf surveys were conducted by Survey Commissioners, who often relied on anecdotal claims rather than land records. The new law mandates that District Collectors oversee these surveys, grounding them in official land records and the state’s revenue framework.
4. Inclusion, transparency, and accountability
Perhaps the most progressive reform in the new law is the inclusion of non-Muslim members in the Central Waqf Council. Until now, the Council was exclusively Muslim, limiting its accountability to the larger Indian polity. The 2024 amendment allows the inclusion of two non-Muslim members and opens the door for MPs, judges, and other dignitaries to take part in the administration, bringing transparency and diversity to an otherwise opaque body.
Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Vadra, and the politics of silence
In the face of such far-reaching reforms, the silence or worse, veiled opposition of Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra is deafening. For years, the Gandhi family presided over a party that laid the legal foundation for Waqf excesses. Yet, even today, they continue to defend the very system that victimised not only Hindus but also thousands of poor Muslims who lost their land to powerful Waqf insiders.
Instead of welcoming reforms that promote transparency, property rights, and gender justice, Rahul Gandhi and his sister have chosen to politicise the issue, accusing the Modi government of targeting minorities. In doing so, they conveniently ignore the Muslim whistleblowers, landless farmers, and temple trusts who have for years demanded redressal against Waqf encroachments.
This is not just political hypocrisy; it is a betrayal of the very values they claim to uphold. If the Gandhis truly cared for secularism and justice, they would support laws that empower citizens across religions, not laws that enable the creation of a parallel land regime governed by unaccountable religious bureaucracies.
A step toward justice
While a vocal minority of political commentators have attacked the 2024 Waqf amendment as “majoritarian,” the ground reality tells a different story. Many from within the Muslim community have welcomed the reforms. For landowners, female heirs, reformist Muslims, and others who had been victimised by the previous legal regime, this amendment is not just legislation, it is liberation.
The Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2024 is a landmark moment in India’s quest for legal clarity, secular governance, and equal rights. By undoing decades of legislative negligence and appeasement, the Modi government has corrected a historical blunder that had allowed Waqf Boards to operate as parallel land authorities.
Meanwhile, Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, instead of defending this, appear more interested in preserving a broken system their party created. Their silence is not just political; it is complicity.
In a democracy, no religious body, Waqf or otherwise, should operate above the Constitution. With these amendments, India moves one step closer to that ideal.
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