All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) President Moulana Khalid Saifullah Rehmani has strongly opposed the proposed Waqf (Amendment) Bill, declaring it a “matter of life and death” for the Muslim community and vowing to resist it “at all costs.” Speaking in Kanpur, Rehmani warned that the government’s bill aims to reduce Waqf board powers and potentially allow for non-Muslim participation in Waqf governance, a move he argues could compromise the protection of religious sites and community properties. “If needed, the Muslims of the country will fill the jails… We will not hesitate to give our own lives,” he stated.
Introduced by the central government on July 28, the Waqf (Amendment) Bill has since been sent to a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) following pushback from opposition parties. The bill proposes changes such as appointing non-Muslims and Muslim women to the Central Waqf Council and state boards, and reducing the authority of Waqf boards to designate properties as “waqf property.”
Rehmani said that the government intends to seize Waqf properties, highlighting that Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh alone manage close to one million acres of temple land, while Muslims nationwide have about six lakh acres of Waqf land.
“What is the problem with that?” he asked, asserting that the legislation undermines constitutional rights and communal harmony.
He further said that the government is “pressurizing” Waqf Board members to neglect documentation and fail in court cases, which he views as a tactic to facilitate property takeovers.
In a related event on October 22, tensions around the bill escalated during a JPC meeting when Trinamool Congress MP Kalyan Banerjee, in a dispute with BJP’s Abhijit Gangopadhyay, smashed a glass bottle in frustration, injuring his fingers. Banerjee was subsequently suspended for a day by the Parliamentary committee due to his disruptive actions.