New Delhi [India], April 16 (ANI): Noting that a large section of the Muslim community is wholeheartedly welcoming the Waqf Amendment Act, Union Minister for Parliamentary Affairs and Minority Affairs Kiren Rijiju has said that the newly enacted legislation establishes a transparent and accountable system for waqf administration.

In an interview with ANI, Rijiju said Waqf land is not being 'utilised' for the benefit of vast sections of Muslim community and that 'some powerful' people are misusing it.

He said only those parties which treat Muslim community as 'vote-bank' and want to keep it isolated, had opposed the bill. He slammed attempts at 'fear-mongering' against the Waqf Amendment Act.

Rijiju said Waqf Act has been enacted after detailed consultations and there is no question of snatching somebody's property.

'Large section of the Muslim community is wholeheartedly welcoming this Act. The requirement for change in the Waqf Act, the necessary amendments we have made, are in fact suggested by the committees which were formed during the Congress time. If you see 1976 Wafq inquiry report, the Sachar Committee report, K Rehman Khan report, they all have talked about (carrying out) the management of the Waqf property in much more efficient, transparent, and accountable manner. That is exactly what we have done it. Waqf properties in India are the largest Waqf properties in the world...And despite having the largest Waqf properties in the world, how come these properties are not being utilised for the welfare of the Muslim community,' Rijiju said.

'The purpose (of waqf) is charitable, pious, and religious purpose...Waqf properties are being mismanaged by few of the powerful people who are, very surreptitiously, mishandling the entire waqf properties, and few families are enjoying the fruits of these properties. What about the 90 per cent, the larger section of the Muslim community, the weaker sections, the children, the women? What we have done is we have made sure that the misuse will be prevented in future. And I must tell you, we knew it. We will have this kind of resistance because those powerful people who are misusing so much of Waqf properties will definitely not give up easily. They will resist. And that is what we are seeing. But what we are saying is, let people read the provisions of the act and tell us if there is any provision which harms the Muslim community. Muslims are also Indians. Shouldn't we think about the Muslim community? How can we leave aside one community and let all the irregularities keep on happening unchecked?' the minister asked.

Kiren Rijiju said government looks after the interests of every citizen of the country and wrong notions are sought to be spread that government will snatch somebody's property.

'We are the Government of India. We have the responsibility to ensure that every citizen is taken care of, every community is looked after. So the people who are spreading this false news, all this, you know, unverified claims and just merely broadcasting around that the Waqf properties means the masjids, the dargahs, kabaristan (graveyards) these are going to be snatched away by the government. This country rules through law. We are governed by the Constitution. How can anybody snatch somebody's property like that?' he asked.

The Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2025, passed by Parliament earlier this month after marathon debates in both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, seeks to streamline the management of Waqf properties, with provisions to safeguard heritage sites and promote social welfare. The bill was later given assent by President Droupadi Murmu.

Parties of INDIA bloc strongly opposed the bill, terming it unconstitutional. The Parliament also passed the Mussalman Wakf (Repeal) Bill, 2025.

The Waqf Act provides that no land belonging to members of Scheduled Tribes, under the provisions of the fifth schedule or sixth schedule to the Constitution, can be declared as Waqf.

Asked about its implementation in the northeastern states, Rijiju said it will have a larger consequence in Assam and to some extent in Manipur.

'The other tribal states like Arunachal, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, and Sikkim, mainly the northeastern states, are insulated from this effect of the bill because we have put a provision. The creation of Waqf cannot be done on tribal land, which is any land falls in Sixth and Fifth Schedule of the Constitution. So it will not have impact the tribal areas...Assam and Manipur will have an impact, but impact means positive impact.

Answering a query, Rijiju said tribals are attached to 'jungle, zameen' and the government has taken care of their concerns.

'There are instances which have come before us that Muslim men marrying tribal women and then getting converted and then finally creating that particular land owned by the lady as waqf property. And you know, once a waqf property is dedicated, It can't be reversed. That is why we have to be very careful in the tribal area. If the lands are declared as waqf property, then it will have a forever status change. So that is why we put this amendment in the Parliament. And now some people have challenged that provision also. So the tribals... will be raising their voice and I believe that some of them will be appealing in the Supreme Court that any protection given to the tribals should not be challenged. Tribal lands and tribal rights are protected by the constitutional provisions. It's not that we have just inserted on our whims and fancies. We have aligned with the constitutional provisions,' he said.

Answering a query, Rijiju said Waqf Amendment Act not only ensures justice to the needy people, but prevents wrongdoings and illegal acts of some people.

'For last nearly eight, nine months, I have been receiving numerous delegations from the Muslim community urging urgently to pass this Bill. And then finally we passed it. It's not that it just came out of the blue. And the consultation process has been widespread. Then who are the people who are protesting? Those political parties, which treat the Muslim community as vote banks. They create, you know, fear-mongering. They keep scaring the Muslim community. And from the time I have been witnessing these people, they don't want Muslim community to develop. They want to keep them isolated. create fear in their mind, and then make them anti-BJP. But many of the Muslim communities are now coming forward. I have met so many Muslim communities, even when I went to Kashmir also, so many, you know, common people, they came, the Muslim women, the influential people also came to me and they said very well done,' he said.

Waqf Amendment Act, he said, amends some provisions which were in existence.

'Since 1913, from the British time, the law existed. And post-independence, first law was enacted in 1954. The legislative process has been happening pre-Independence. The last amendment was 2013. And that triggered the present step which we have taken. I don't need to elaborate on those things, but still I would highlight two important points. One is like, this work by user without the law of limitation being applied, any property can be claimed as waqf property on the basis of a claim made by an individual that some hundred years back or a few years back, we used to do certain things, namaz or whatever. You can do namaz anywhere, but that doesn't mean that that particular area becomes a waqf property. So we have not only checked it, but ensured that misuse or unverified claims must be stopped,' he said.

'What we have done is that you can create waqf through a deed, not by just oral claim. Because once waqf property means forever waqf. That is why you have to be extremely careful. So it has to be with a documentation process. The law is prospective. Whatever is a declared Waqf property cannot be disturbed. Whether it was Waqf by user or whatever. I'll just give you an example. If there was a waqf by user and a particular property has been declared a waqf property and a document has been created, thereby the state government or the District Magistrate has recognized that property and it is registered, then it is done. The case is settled. You are not going to reopen or change the status of that,' he added.

The minister said that cases which are pending or under dispute are to be decided by courts or appropriate authority .

'We can't take away the rights of the courts. It is prospective, not retrospective. However, if there are some kind of issues which are not settled, then state government will decide. So the power is not with the central government. Central government is just forming a central Waqf council which is headed by the minister,' he said.

Rijiju said there are six minority communities in India by definition. 'By virtue of being the Minister for Minority Affairs, I presented the bill. By virtue of being the Minister, I became the Chairman of the Central Waqf Council. Minority ministry is not for Muslims. That is what I have been telling from the beginning. That the Congress Party had made the Minority Affairs Ministry as a Muslim Affairs Ministry. How unfortunate that is. And then, they are talking only about Muslims,' he said.

Answering another query about BJP not having a MP from Muslim community in Lok Sabha, Rijiju said he has been telling people in the Muslim areas to vote for BJP, send Muslim MPs, come to BJP and be part of the government. 'If Modiji has got the massive support from the people of the country, it is not anybody's fault.'

'Suppose if you don't get elected from Muslim community, what can you do? I can't make somebody elected with my own wishes. You know, I have to have a person who is elected by the people. So that is why the some of the objections, I mean, this very bizarre, you know, kind of argument, they said that the minister who presented the bill is not a Muslim.'

Rijiju said he feels fortunate to have done something good for the Muslim community. 'Being the Minority Affairs Minister, I have the responsibility to look after the welfare measure for the six minority communities,' he said.

Rijiju replied to the marathon and fierce debates in the two Houses of Parliament on the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2025. The two Houses sate beyond midnight to clear the Bill.

A Joint Parliamentary Committee had examined the Waqf Amendment Bill, first introduced in the Lok Sabha in August last year. The revised Bill presented by the government incorporated suggestions of the committee. (ANI)