Lok Sabha at midnight passed the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2025, amid heated debates lasting more than 11 hours. The bill seeks to improve the functioning, address complexities, ensure transparency and introduce technology-driven management of Waqf properties. Speaking on the debate, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said Opposition parties for spreading fear and rumours that Waqf Bill will interfere with Muslims’ religious matters
Making an intervention during a debate, the Home Minister said that non-Muslims in Waqf council and boards are meant purely for ensuring administration of properties are in accordance with stated aims. He underlined that Waqf is a type of charitable institution, where a person donates his property for social, religious or public welfare purposes, without the right to take it back.
Shah said the word ‘donation’ has special importance because donation can be done only of that thing which is our own property. No one can donate Government property, he asserted. Addressing the House, Shah said vote bank is being created by intimidating minorities and confusion is being spread in the country by creating an atmosphere of fear among the minorities. He also said the Waqf law was made ‘extreme’ in 2013 by Congress for appeasement ahead of parliamentary polls and if the law was not tweaked then, the present bill might not have been needed happen. Earlier, tabling the Bill, Union Minority Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju said the the Bill aims to bring improvement in the functioning of Waqf properties, address complexities, ensure transparency and introduce technology-driven management. The Bill, which was examined and redrafted by a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC), Rijiju said the legislation has nothing to do with religion, but deals only with properties.
“The Government is not going to interfere in any religious institution. The changes made in the Waqf law by the UPA government gave it overriding effect over other statutes, hence the new amendments were required,” Rijiju said amid noisy opposition protest, adding, “You (opposition) tried to mislead the people on issues which are not part of the Waqf Bill.” The Minister said more than 97.27 lakh petitions and memorandums were received by the JPC through physical and online formats and the JPC had gone through each of them before finalising its report. As many as 284 delegations submitted their views on the Bill besides the Waqf boards of 25 states and Union Territories, he said.
Legal luminaries, charitable organisations, academicians and religious leaders, among others, also submitted their opinions, Rijiju added. “Waqf is controlling the third largest pool of properties in the country after railways and defence. The railways and defence properties belong to the nation, but Waqf properties are private in nature. It is unfair to compare them with the land banks of railways and armed forces,” he said.
Minister alleged that ordinary Muslims were misled for vote-bank politics for 70 years as no benefits were received by them from such a large pool of land bank. “Why the Waqf properties are not used for the benefit and welfare of the ordinary, poor and downtrodden Muslims? These properties will have to be used for the welfare of the common Muslims,” Rijiju said. As of 2004, a total of 4.9 lakh properties were held by the Waqf and their income was just Rs 163 crore, he said. After the 2013 amendment, the Minister said, the income has gone up by just Rs 3 crore to Rs 166 crore.
“We can’t accept such meagre income from such a huge bank of properties. The income should have been at least Rs 12,000 crore. Waqf property has to be used for poor Muslims, and the Waqf Bill is needed to achieve this purpose,” he said. Stating that the law will be prospective, not restrospective, and will not snatch away anyone’s property, Rijiju said that when the Citizenship (Amendment) Act was enacted in 2019, the opposition claimed the rights of the Muslims will be taken away, and their citizenship rights will be snatched.
“Tell me now, citizenship rights of how many Muslims were taken away ever since the CAA came into force? Not even one. You should apologise for misleading the people on the CAA. The country will remember for ages who is supporting and who is opposing the Waqf Bill,” he said. The Minister also said the Waqf Bill will be renamed as Unified Waqf Management Empowerment, Efficiency and Development (UMEED) Bill.
As of now, the number of total Waqf properties is around 8.72 lakh and had they been managed efficiently, fortunes of not only the Muslims, but the whole country would have changed, Rijiju said. “You will see the transformational impact just within a year. A new dawn will come. That is why the common Muslims are whole-heartedly supporting the Bill,” he said.
According to the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, Waqf tribunals will be strengthened, a structured selection process will be maintained, and a tenure will be fixed to ensure efficient dispute resolution. As per the Bill, while Waqf institutions’ mandatory contribution to Waqf Boards reduced from 7 per cent to 5 per cent, Waqf institutions earning over Rs 1 lakh will undergo audits by state-sponsored auditors. A centralised portal will automate Waqf property management, improving efficiency and transparency.
The Bill also proposes that practising Muslims (for at least five years) can dedicate their property to Waqf, restoring pre-2013 rules. Also, women must receive their inheritance before Waqf declaration, with special provisions for widows, divorced women and orphans.The Bill also proposes that an officer above the rank of collector will investigate government properties claimed as Waqf. In case of disputes, the senior Government official will have the final say on whether a property belongs to Waqf or the Government. This replaces the existing system where such decisions are made by Waqf tribunals. The Bill also proposes that non-Muslim members will be included in the central and state Waqf boards for inclusivity.
Initiating the debate, Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi said the INDIA bloc will oppose the proposed changes to the Waqf law and called the bill an attack on the basic structure of the Constitution with an aim to dilute its provisions, defame minorities, disenfranchise them and divide the Indian society. Hitting back, former Union Minister and BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad said when large number of Waqf properties are lying vacant and being looted, the government has all powers to bring a law to regulate it. He told Gogoi that while he cited Constitution, he did not present a complete picture on its various provisions authorising government to bring laws on various issues, including Waqf properties.
Gogoi accused the Government of misleading Parliament, referencing past discussions on the matter. “This bill is an attack on the basic structure of our Constitution, an attack on our federal structure, and has four primary objectives: to dilute the Constitution, to defame minority communities, to divide Indian society, and to disenfranchise minorities,” he alleged.
Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav alleged that the Bill is aimed at polarisation and will send a wrong message to the world denting the country’s secular image. Yadav accused that the Bill has been introduced to manage BJP’s “diminishing” vote bank and will prove to be a “waterloo” for the BJP as some members might be claiming to support the bill but inside they are not happy about the development.
“Bringing Waqf Bill is the BJP’s political game, it is a new form of their communal politics. The BJP wants to appease those supporters who are now distancing themselves from the party because of its policies. .As there has been a drop in the vote share, especially in Uttar Pradesh, the BJP has been trying to manage votes and this bill is being introduced for managing votes,” he said.
“BJP wants the Muslim community to feel that their rights are being attacked and the party gets to indulge in politics of polarisation because that is their agenda,” he alleged. “This bill will prove to be a waterloo for BJP because many members who are supporting right now are doing it from outside and inside they are not convinced about it,” Yadav added.
