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'Step to Seizure of Mosques': How Global Media is Reporting Waqf Bill

The Narendra Modi government’s treatment of minorities, especially the Indian Muslims, comes under the scanner once again after the Waqf Amendment Bill, renamed as “Unified Waqf Management Empowerment, Efficiency, and Development Bill” or UMEED Bill, was passed by the Parliament

Saturday April 5, 2025 4:52 PM, Ahmed Abdullah Faizee

[Members of the Muslim community protested against Waqf Amendment Bill in Ludhiana, Punjab on Friday April 04, 2025.]

The Narendra Modi government’s treatment of minorities, especially the Indian Muslims, comes under the scanner once again after the Waqf Amendment Bill, renamed as “Unified Waqf Management Empowerment, Efficiency, and Development Bill” or UMEED Bill, was passed by the Parliament.

The BJP and its allies together have a majority in both the houses of the Indian Parliament. As a result the Waqf Bill was first passed by Lok Sabha - the Lower House of the Indian Parliament, with a vote result of 288/232 on Wednesday April 02, 2025.

After Lok Sabha, the Bill was tabled in Rajya Sabha – the Upper House of the Indian Parliament. The Rajya Sabha passed the Bill on Thursday April 03, 2025 with 128 MPs voting in favour and 95 against.

Almost all global media while reporting about the Waqf Bill called it “controversial” and “contentious“ whereas some others have been more brutal in criticizing the Modi government calling the move an attempt to “seize the Muslim places of worship.”

In a report titled "Indian parliament passes bill seen as step to seizure of mosques", Iran based Press TV said:

"The bill, proposed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist government, will change laws regulating Muslim charity organizations and endowments worth more than $14 billion.

The legislation's most contentious aspect pertains to new property validation rules. Many of India's historical mosques, shrines, and graveyards lack formal documentation, as waqf endowments were made centuries ago without legal records.

Also Read: ‘Worth lakhs of crores, income merely 126 cr’: Amit Shah highlights Waqf misuse

These concerns are heightened by recent moves from radical Hindu groups claiming that certain historical mosques were constructed over Hindu temples.

With several such claims currently under review in Indian courts, there is growing concern that the new law might expedite efforts to reclassify or take control of Muslim religious sites."

UK based Independent while reporting on Waqf Amendment Bill called the move “India’s crackdown on Muslim charitable trusts” and “religious freedom”.

“The Narendra Modi administration says the reforms to the system of Waqf properties – religious and charitable assets governed under Islamic law – will address bureaucratic gaps, clarify ownership disputes, improve transparency and reduce encroachments on public land.

[Protest against Waqf Amendment Bill in Gokak, Belgaum, Karnataka on Friday April 04, 2025]

"Critics, however, say it is a thinly-veiled attempt to seize Muslim-controlled properties, weaken the autonomy of the country’s 200 million-strong Muslim minority and increase state oversight of religious assets”, the Independent said in its report published Saturday April 05, 2025.

Washington based Genocide Watch in its report titled 'Waqf Bill a Dangerous Policy To Dispossess Indian Muslims', wrote:

"The proposed legislation, which is currently being debated in the Indian Parliament, seeks to fundamentally alter the governance of Waqf properties, threatening the rights and autonomy of India’s Muslim communities under the pretext of transparency and reform."

British broadcaster BBC also called the bill “controversial”. In a report published today BBC wrote:

"After hours of heated debate, India's parliament has passed a controversial bill that seeks to change how properties worth billions of dollars donated by Muslims over centuries are governed."

Qatar based Al Jazeera also described the Bill controversial, writing:

" …. One of the most controversial changes to the waqf bill is in its ownership rules, which could affect hundreds of mosques, shrines and graveyards. Many such properties lack formal documentation as they were donated without legal records decades, even centuries, ago."

Al Jazeera further wrote:

"While many Muslims agree that waqf properties suffer from corruption, encroachments and poor management, they also fear that the new law could give India’s Hindu nationalist government far greater control over Muslim properties, particularly at a time when attacks against minority communities have become more aggressive under Modi, with Muslims often targeted for everything from their food and clothing styles to inter-religious marriages."

The New York Times in its report titled "India Passes Contentious Bill Increasing Oversight of Muslim Land Trusts" also highlighted the concerncs that the Bill if became a law could be used to target the Indian Muslims.

"Many critics of the new Waqf bill agree that there was a need to improve the management of the trusts. But they also say they are concerned that the bill is the ruling Hindu nationalist party’s latest attempt to target the country’s largest religious minority.

While the constitution protects the rights of religious groups to manage their own affairs, some observers say this bill provides a new legal basis for the authorities to target the Muslim community."

Writing that India has one of the largest numbers of Waqf assets in the world, including over 870,000 properties spanning more than 900,000 hectares, with an estimated value of about $14.2 billion. Domestically, only the military and railways control more land, Riyadh based Arab News in its report quoted Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay, a New Delhi-based author and political analyst, as saying:

"The only message which this government is repeatedly making — because that is the only thing which is going to continue to keep its electoral support — is that ‘we are tightening the screws on the Muslims; we are forcing them to act as the majority community wants."

Meanwhile, there are reports of protest by the Indian Muslims from some parts of India including Kolkata in West Bengal, Ludhiana in Punjab, and Gokak, Belgaum and Bengaluru in Karnataka.
There are also reports of protests from Gujarat and Tamil Nadu.

The Congress Party and All India Majlis e Ittehadul (AIMIM) on the other hand have decided to take the legal path and have challenged the Waqf Bill in the Supreme Court of India.

[Ahmed Abdullah Faizee is a Staff Writer at ummid.com]

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