"Had the Waqf law not been amended in 2013, there would have been no need to bring this bill": Amit Shah

New Delhi [India], April 3 (ANI): Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday accused the Congress of appeasement, stating that the party in 2013 ahead of the 2014 general elections, drastically altered the Waqf law.
Participating in the debate in Lok Sabha on the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2025, Amit Shah said that if the Waqf law had not been amended in 2013, this bill would not have been necessary.
"However, before the 2014 elections, in 2013, the Waqf law was drastically altered overnight for the sake of appeasement, which led to the allocation of 123 high-profile properties in the Lutyens' Zone of Delhi to Waqf. The Delhi Waqf Board transferred the land of Northern Railways to Waqf. In Himachal Pradesh, land was illegally converted into Waqf property and used to build unauthorized mosques. In Tamil Nadu, 400 acres of land belonging to the 1500-year-old Tiruchendur temple were declared Waqf property," he said.
Shah mentioned that according to a report from a committee in Karnataka, 29,000 acres of Waqf land were leased for commercial use. "Between 2001 and 2012, Waqf properties worth Rs 2 lakh crore were leased to private institutions for 100 years. He also stated that the High Court in Bengaluru had to intervene to stop the acquisition of 602 acres of land. In Honwad village, Vijaypur, Karnataka, 1500 acres of land was made controversial, and this land, worth Rs 500 crore, was leased to a five-star hotel for just Rs 12,000 per month," the Home Minister added.

He further mentioned that Muslims now have the option to register their trusts under the Waqf Trust Act, making a separate Waqf law unnecessary for this purpose.
Regarding the role of the District Collector in the Waqf Bill, Amit Shah stated that whenever land is purchased for a temple in the country, it is the Collector who determines its ownership. He questioned why there is opposition to the Collector investigating Waqf land, emphasizing that only the Collector has the authority to verify whether Waqf land belongs to the government or not.
Along with the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2025, Rijiju also moved the Mussalman Wakf (Repeal) Bill, 2024, for consideration and passing in the Lok Sabha.The bill was earlier presented in the Lok Sabha in August last year and a Joint Parliamentary Committee, headed by BJP member Jagdambika Pal, examined it.
The bill seeks to amend the Act of 1995. The Bill seeks to improve the administration and management of waqf properties in India. It aims to overcome the shortcomings of the previous act and enhance the efficiency of Waqf boards, improving the registration process and increasing the role of technology in managing waqf records. (ANI)