All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief and Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi criticised the proposed Waqf Bill, stating it violates Article 26 of the Constitution.
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00:00So as the Waqf Bill now unites the political opposition,
00:04joining me now is someone who's been leading the charge against the government's Waqf Bill,
00:10the Member of Parliament and AIMIM MP Asaduddin Owaisi.
00:16Mr Owaisi, what explains this rising crescendo among Muslim groups
00:22who are hitting the street against the Waqf Bill?
00:25What are the leaders like yourselves so worried about?
00:28If there is nothing to hide, the government says, why should you be worried if the Waqf Boards are regulated?
00:34First, Rajdeep, you must understand that the 1995 Act which was passed in the Parliament
00:42was supported by BJP, unanimously supported. 2013, an amendment was made, BJP openly supported it.
00:51Now, what has happened is that because they subscribe to the ideology of Hindutva,
00:57which wants to make India a country, a theological country, they do not believe in diversity.
01:04Now, what worries us is, number one, that you are interfering in the administration of the Waqf Board.
01:11Under Article 26 of our Constitution, the fundamental right, the denominational rights of everyone,
01:17that I manage my own religious affairs, that is Waqf Board. The government wants to have non-Muslims
01:24and in fact they can appoint, now elections are finished, government will be appointing
01:29and they can be majority of non-Muslims, which is completely violation of Article 26.
01:34No, but Mr. OBC, the fact, no, no, one minute, the fact is that there are governments that have a say,
01:38state governments have a say in the running of temples.
01:41You seem to suggest that the moment the government tries to put a regulatory framework
01:45against the Waqf Board, on the Waqf Boards, it's anti-Constitution.
01:49But all these years, there have been temple trusts where the state governments have had control.
01:54Please understand that even in the Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Bihar, any Hindu endowment board,
02:06which clearly says that the members and the staff and the officers have to be Hindu. They cannot be non-Hindus.
02:15Now running the endowment board is different, having members over here. Now here the Waqf Board,
02:23please understand that the government appoints certain categories in the existing 94 Act,
02:28then you have elections for MLA, MPs and the Bar Council.
02:32Now that is against Article 26. Secondly, Rajdeep, you are saying that the adverse
02:37possession will be applicable to Waqf Board, which will not be applicable to the Hindu endowment board
02:43or to Sikh Gurdwara Committee or to Christian Missionaries. So basically you want to reward the encroachers over there.
02:51Thirdly, you have given powers to collector and higher official who will decide what is a Waqf property.
02:59That is completely violation of principles of natural justice. You cannot be a judge in your own case.
03:06But you will concede, Mr. Ovesi, that there have been serious issues about encroachments of property,
03:12disputed ownership, ineffective surveys, the fact that there is an absence of judicial oversight on tribunal decisions taken over the Waqf.
03:21Do you accept that given this widespread litigation, there is reason to believe that if you have a regulator,
03:28as long as it's transparent, you should have nothing to worry about. Then whether that's the district collector
03:34or whether that's a judicial oversight, what is wrong with it, as long as it is transparently done. The government says they will be transparent.
03:41It's all hogwash. I'll revert all those allegations. Number one, this government had introduced in 2014,
03:51a bill called Eviction of Unauthorized Occupation Bill was introduced. In 2024, they withdrew this bill. Who stopped them?
04:01They should have taken forward. Secondly, in the name of encroachment, the existing act says that if anyone
04:09unlawfully or fortunately alienates a property, it will be a non-bailable section.
04:17There will be two-year sentence. What Mr. Modi has done, made it bailable and made it a simple sentence.
04:23So, where is the question of, and regulatory, what regulatory mechanism was created? How can you take away my right and give it to a collector?
04:31That is not the case in any of the Hindu Endowment Boards or the Christian religious bodies or the Sikh Gurudwara Parlamentary Committee.
04:38Where is the regulatory mechanism? There is a belief that the managements of the Waqf Board have been unaccountable so far.
04:48The government is saying what they are doing is through this regulation, hopefully facilitating the development of genuine educational and healthcare institutions or Waqf land,
04:57rather than allowing a small group of clergy in some instance or some individuals to capture this land. It becomes a huge land bank.
05:05It's completely false. You know, look at the budgetary documents. The amount allocated in the Ministry of Minority Affairs
05:14to develop Waqf properties, you have not released that amount at all. You have released a paltry sum and where is the question of developing?
05:22You are not giving the amount to Waqf Boards. As compared to the Hindu Endowment Boards, the state government gives them a huge amount.
05:29And Rajdeep, this false propaganda of Waqf Board being the third largest land bank holder, completely false.
05:36I'll revert this allegation. They take the example of Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and 10 temple properties of Odisha.
05:43That takes it to 14 lakh acres. So where is the question of that?
05:47Sir, the total number of immovable properties claimed by Waqf is 8,72,259.
05:53Management status of the properties not known is for about 4,13,849.
05:58There is no information available therefore on almost 50% of the properties.
06:02If this leads to greater information transparency, I come back to it. Will you still see it as interference?
06:09No, no, no. Rajdeep, I am telling you, not a single amendment proposed by the government.
06:16The government is only verbally lying. Not a single amendment is there which will protect the Waqf properties.
06:24You remove eviction, you remove evacue property section, why?
06:29Because you want to grab those evacue properties in Punjab and Haryana.
06:33Why are you removing that evacue property section which generates lot of revenue?
06:38Why is it that you are making it, you know, the judgment of the tribunal?
06:43You are saying go and appeal. The Hindu Endowment Board, Income Tax Tribunal, NGT Tribunal, Railways Claimant Tribunal,
06:50these are all review petitions. You are, every amendment that this government is bringing in is to destroy the Waqf Board,
06:56to take away the Muslim management. How can we trust this government which does not have a single Muslim MP,
07:03not a single Muslim minister, which does not give a ticket to Muslims, which has indulgence in ensuring,
07:10using bulldozer by destroying everyone, by behousing everything.
07:14So, which amendment is there, I will give one example which will happen. Right opposite the parliament, there is a masjid.
07:21The Delhi government claims it is their property. The Waqf Board claims it is their property.
07:27What will happen, God forbid, if the act is, if the bill is passed, the collector of that area will say, no, this is a government property.
07:34This is not a Waqf property. You are giving that kind of powers in this bill to the collector.
07:40Yeah, but it would eventually then perhaps be settled in court. Of course, that would take…
07:45No, no, no. What do you mean settle in court? You make a law to settle in court.
07:51No, you are making a law to deny me the right to run my affairs, which is against Article 26.
07:58You do not make laws to go and settle in court. Why are you doing this?
08:02How much of this though is fear mongering? What you mentioned at the moment, the lack of trust that you have in the government.
08:09Is that what it boils down to? We saw it even when the JPC was appointed on the Waqf Board.
08:14The kind of debate that took place between the various members seemed to suggest that this is all divided now on party lines.
08:21And we are seeing that the opposition states are coming together. It almost seems, once again, it is the Modi government versus the opposition.
08:28And stuck in the middle is the legislation. Rajdeep, we are seeing, I will give you an example of Sambhal Masjid.
08:361880, that case was decided. Suddenly, something opens up.
08:39The only reason is to grab masjids, to grab Khabarastan, to open controversies, to create more divisions between Hindus and Muslims,
08:49so that all this social fabric is weakened more in our country.
08:53If you want to do anything for Waqf Board, give them enough grants to develop those properties.
08:58If you want to protect Waqf properties, why did you withdraw this Eviction of Unauthorized Occupants Bill Act?
09:04If you want to protect, why is it that you are removing elections to the category of MLAs, MPs and Bar Council?
09:10You want to nominate your own jokers so that you take that Waqf property in direct management for 5 years and you destroy everything.
09:17But are you very clear that if a Waqf property is encroached on land that is not meant for the Waqf property, action must be taken?
09:24You are clear on that? And are you therefore saying that your only concern is excessive government control is what troubles you?
09:33Am I correct? You are not saying that action should not be taken against illegalities.
09:37If there are illegalities, action should be taken. The Waqf Board itself cannot take action or the tribunal against its own.
09:44You are completely wrong. They are violating the constitution, fundamental rights of article 25, 26, 14 and 15.
09:52Now I will give you an example to understand your viewers.
09:56The 2013 Waqf Act. From 2013 to 2023, the Gujarat BJP government did not establish a Waqf Board.
10:06Who stopped them from doing that? Please tell me. You will never form a Waqf Board.
10:10By this act, if this bill becomes an act, you will take everything in direct management.
10:14No, but if properties are usurped in the name of Waqf, are you very clear?
10:20If there is proof of that, if it has been illegally acquired, action should be taken?
10:25Rajdeep, please understand that if tomorrow Rajdeep Sardesai as a Hindu, you can donate your property to Waqf Board.
10:34You cannot do it directly. You write a letter to the Waqf Board. The Waqf Board sends you to the Chief Secretary.
10:39The Chief Secretary tells the Survey Commissioner to do a survey and issues a notice whether Mr. Sardesai is the owner or not.
10:45After that, the Survey Commissioner says, yes, Mr. Sardesai is the owner. He can give his property to Waqf Board.
10:51After that, the state government issues a gazette notification that this property which Mr. Sardesai is donating is a Waqf property.
10:59Who will hold the Waqf Board accountable? It's coming down to that.
11:06Who will hold the Waqf Board accountable? It cannot be unaccountable.
11:09Rajdeep, you are making provisions more dangerous now.
11:14Tomorrow, I cannot even move a no confidence motion against the Chairman of the Waqf Board.
11:18I cannot even remove him. Do you know that? I can remove a Prime Minister in the Parliament.
11:23I can remove the Speaker in the Parliament but I cannot remove a Chairman of the Waqf Board who becomes corrupt.
11:27And why did you withdrew this eviction of unauthorized occupant bill?
11:32Why is this government ensuring that the Limitation Act applies on Waqf Board only?
11:37Because you want to reward those encroachers.
11:40That is what I am saying. The government is not interested in protecting the Waqf properties.
11:45Mr. Modi has assumed that a property which is given to Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala, the Almighty,
11:51he says, no, it is not anymore. I will decide and Rajdeep, a funny thing,
11:56if tomorrow, as a Muslim, I can donate every property.
12:00What Mr. Modi is saying that if you are a Muslim, you must show that you are a Muslim for 5 years.
12:05Who the hell are you? I must demonstrate myself.
12:08That till 5 years I can give my property to Hindu Endowment Board or Mutt but I cannot give it to my religion,
12:14to the Muslim cause, to charitable causes. This is what Bill is saying.
12:20Can I therefore ask you in conclusion, it seems the government will go ahead with it, likely to move it after Eid.
12:25The opposition doesn't have the numbers in Parliament. How do you see this playing out now? A final answer.
12:32No, I am, this will be an unconstitutional act. This will lead to social fabric being weakened.
12:40This will lead to more, you know, Hindu-Muslim fights, God forbid.
12:45You can challenge it in the Supreme Court. Rajdeep, we have challenged CAA, we have challenged Triple Talaq.
12:53Where is it? The Supreme Court is yet to hear those matters. What will happen? See, in that Bill, there is a provision.
12:59If tomorrow I say that Mr. Rajdeep Sardesai's property is not buff, I give a complaint to the collector,
13:05the collector will order inquiry and till the inquiry is completed, you will, that property will not be a buff property.
13:11The collector, there is no time limit for the collector to finish his inquiry. Where are we heading?
13:17You are saying, put it on portal. Look at, you know, Bombay Trust Act is there.
13:21In Bombay Trust Act, those provisions are not there which are providing in this Bill.
13:27Put it on portal. If I don't put it on portal for six months, I lose my buff protection.
13:31You are seeing what the Delhi, sorry, UPCM has said. We have dug 54 places.
13:37They will start digging in every places. Oh no, this is not. And you think the collector will be independent?
13:42The collector will have to dance to the music of the BJP chief minister. They will say, oh yes, this is not a buff property.
13:48This is not a masjid. This is not a dargah. Because you have passed a law.
13:52Okay. I am going to leave it there, Asaduddin Ovesi. You have given us why you believe you do not want this Vakf Bill to go ahead.
14:02We will wait and see what the government decides next week when parliament resumes post-Eid.
14:08But for now, I appreciate you joining me on the show today and Eid Mubarak in advance to you.
14:14Thank you. Thank you, Ranveer.