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In the Lok Sabha, Kiren Rijiju stated that without the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, landmarks like the Parliament building and Delhi airport would have been designated as Waqf properties.
Kiren Rijiju speaks in the Lok Sabha (Video screengrab)
Union Minister Kiren Rijiju on Wednesday said the Parliament building, the Delhi airport premises, and the CGO Complex would have been Waqf properties had the Waqf Bill not been introduced.
Speaking in the Lok Sabha, as the Waqf Bill was tabled in the House, Rijiju also said that the Waqf Board does not manage the Waqf properties and that the Bill will be renamed as ‘Unified Waqf Management Empowerment, Efficiency and Development (UMEED) Bill’.
“In 2013, right before the Lok Sabha elections in 2014, there were some steps taken which will raise questions in your mind. In 2013, an act was changed to allow Sikhs, Hindus, Parsis and others to create Waqf. Everyone knows Waqf is for Muslims to create Waqf in the name of Allah. This change was made by Congress in 2013,” Rijiju said.
“The Congress made the boards specifics, only Shias in Shia boards. A section was added that Waqf will have an overriding effect over every other law. How can this section be acceptable?” he asked.
“A case ongoing since 1970 in Delhi involved several properties, including the CGO Complex and the Parliament building. The Delhi Waqf Board had claimed these as Waqf properties. The case was in court, but at that time, the UPA government denotified 123 properties and handed them over to the Waqf Board,” Rijiju mentioned.
“Had we not introduced this amendment today, even the Parliament building we are sitting in could have been claimed as Waqf property,” he said.
“Had the Narendra Modi government not come into power, several properties would have been de-notified,” he added.
“Waqf properties are private in nature, it is unfair to compare such properties with land banks of the railways and the armed forces,” he said.
Rijiju’s remarks came in reference to AIUDF chief Badruddin Ajmal’s October 2024 statement, wherein he claimed that the Parliament building and its surrounding areas in Delhi were built on Waqf properties.
Ajmal had also claimed that the area around Vasant Vihar had been built on Waqf’s property.
Even then, Ajmal’s remarks were slammed by Rijiju, who had said India had the “largest Waqf properties” and they should be utilised for the welfare of women and children of the Muslim community.
As Rijiju introduced the Bill in the Lower House of the Parliament, he said, “I want to say that the discussion that has taken place on the Waqf Amendment Bill in the Joint Committee of both the Houses has never been done in the Parliamentary history of India to date.”
“I thank and congratulate all the members of the Joint Committee. To date, a total of 284 delegations from the state holders of different communities have presented their views and suggestions before the committee,” he said.
“Waqf boards of 25 state governments and union territories have also presented their submissions,” the Union Minister said.
“After supporting the Bill, you all come to my office after one year… I will let you know about the transformational impact (of the Bill). We have incorporated and accepted several recommendations of the joint parliamentary committee (JPC) in the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, to say that JPC’s recommendations were not taken is wrong,” he added.
“A maximum of four non-Muslim members, including compulsory two women members, can be there in Waqf Council. At present, there are no women in Waqf Board,” the Union Minister said.
CONGRESS COUNTERS
Soon after Rijiju’s address, Congress MP and Deputy Leader of Opposition, Gaurav Gogoi, countered the Union Minister’s claims, terming those “misleading”.
“I heard the honourable minister on the day this Bill was introduced and today also. The day this Bill was introduced, he said that there were comprehensive discussions over it. This is completely misleading. There was no mention of the need for a new Waqf (Amendment) Bill during the five meetings of the Ministry of Minority Affairs. We have seen the minutes of these meetings.”
“I just want to ask whether this bill has been made by the Ministry of Minority Affairs or another ministry?” he asked.
“Did the Minority Affairs Ministry make this Bill, or did some other department make it? Where did this Bill come from?” he asked.
“Today, the condition of minorities in the country has become such that the government will have to give a certificate of their religion. Will they ask for a certificate from other religions whether you have completed five years or not? Why is this being asked in this Bill? Why is the government interfering in this matter of religion,” Gogoi said in the House.
The Lok Sabha took up for consideration the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2025, which incorporates suggestions made by the JPC that examined the Bill tabled in Parliament in August last year.
The House also took up the Mussalman Wakf (Repeal) Bill, 2024 for consideration and passing.
