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Malegaon:
Already rattled by the strong opposition from
the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) over the Waqf
Amendment Bill 2010 passed in the lower house, Minister of Awqaf
Salman Khurshid is now facing an equally strong opposition from his
own party MP. Speaking to ummid.com, the lone Congress
Parliamentarian from Bihar and renowned academician, Maulana Asrarul
Haque Qasmi expressed disappointments over the amendments made in
the Waqf Act by the present ministry.
“Looking at the
large scale misuse of the Waqf lands and rampant irregularities in
the Waqf management, the report of the Joint Parliamentary Committee
(JPC) on Waqf was a silver lining on the dark clouds. But it is
disappointing that the bill meant for strengthening and protecting
the Muslim Awqaf ignored the important recommendations made by the
JPC established for the very purpose”, Maulana Asrarul Haque Qasmi
says while speaking to ummid.com on phone.
Maulana Qasmi, who
represents Kishanganj – the only seat that the ruling Congress party
could win from Bihar in the May 2009 parliamentary elections – was
present in the house when Salman Khurshid pushed the bill in the Lok
Sabha on May 07, 2010.
Expressing his
displeasure over the bill while participating in the debate before
it was passed in the lower house, he even compared the bill in its
present form with the lion without teeth.
The recommendations
that the Maulana wanted to be included in the Wakf Amendment Bill 2010
are, formation of special tribunals for the cases related to the
waqf disputes, appointments of IAS officers who are specially
trained in Waqf handling as CEOs at the respective state boards, and
value assessment of the waqf lands - under legal or illegal
occupation - based on the market value and collection of rent from
the users on the same basis.
“Actual cost of the waqf lands is far more than what is estimated. The amount collected
in the name of the rent is still lesser. Hence it is time the government
assess the entire waqf lands on the basis of their market values,
and also decide a fare rent based on the present norms so that the
funds for the development of the minorities are generated”, he said.
Amendments to the Waqf Act are not
new. After the Act was introduced first time in 1954, changes in it were made in 1969, 1984 and finally in 1995.
Incidentally,
Maulana Qasmi’s recommendations too are based on the letter that the
former Prime Minister Mrs. Indira Gandhi had written in 1976 to then
governments in various states. In her letter, she had directed the
state governments to revaluate all the waqf properties under the government use
and make arrangements to pay their rent as per the market
rate.
However, nothing could be done so far in this regard and when
the present government expressed its desire to amend the Waqf Act
once again, it was expected that at least Mrs Indira Gandhi's
directives would be included in the
amendments.
Meanwhile, in an
attempt to bring consensus on the bill before it is moved in the
Upper House, the government has invited the legal team of the All
India Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) to discuss the basis of their
opposition.
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