Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): Congress MLA and All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) member Arif Masood hit out at BJP on Waqf Amendment Act claiming that the government has misled the people on the issue. He was speaking during the protest held against the new Act at Central Library Ground on Thursday.
A large number of members of Muslim community attended the two-hours protest held under the banner of AIMPLB. “People are being misled on the new Act that Waqf Board’s land will be freed from illegal occupants and will be given to the poor.
I will myself support the Act if there is any such point included in the new Waqf Act. The Union Home Minister earlier promised that no non-Muslim will be included in the Waqf Board committee. However, this provision was omitted in the new Act which mentions inclusion of two non-Muslims.
The Waqf Properties were not given by Nawabs, Kings or Landlords but these were endowed by common people in the name of ‘Allah”, the MLA said. The MLA said that if the government wanted to work for the interest of the waqf then it should have introduced a bill to free the illegally occupied Waqf properties but it instead limited the rights of the court to give decisions in the disputes.
The government should have prepared a list of the illegally occupied waqf properties and made it public, the MLA said, claiming that many properties including PHQ and Police Control room are registered as waqf properties in revenue records since Independence.
Shehher Qazi Mushtaq Ali Nadvi and Jamiat-Ulema president Haji Mohammad Haroon also addressed the gathering and urged people to protest against the Act peacefully.
