Dr Darakhshan Andrabi, Chairperson of the Jammu and Kashmir Waqf Board, cautioned threatened ‘encroachers’ of Waqf land and assets that a demolition campaign will be launched shortly across the Union Territory to restore the ownership of the so-called encroached properties to Waqf.
“The encroachers of Waqf land and assets will face bulldozers soon,” Dr Andrai stated during a one-day Waqf Convention in Kashmir. “This is a warning to all encroachers served through media that they should come to us and surrender their right of illegal occupation or otherwise they will have to face the wrath of bulldozers,” she further added.
Dr Andrabi claimed in her speech that serving in Waqf implies serving Allah, and that openness, devotion, and honesty must rule day-to-day operations.
What is Waqf?
It is notable that Waqf is the permanent donation of any movable or immovable property by a Muslim to any purpose recognised as pious, religious, or charitable under Muslim law. This means that any property possessed by a user can be registered with the Board and designated as a ‘waqf,’ which will continue to exist even if the original owner dies. ‘Once a waqf, always a waqf, the Supreme Court had ruled.
This essentially means that an owner of the property, who uses his property for religious practice of Islam, can get it registered with the waqf. Example, if your Muslim neighbour who offers namaz at his home, may get his house registered as masjid with the waqf and the property now becomes waqf property and you will be living next to a mosque.
After the Indian Armed Forces and Indian Railways, the Waqf is third largest owner of properties in India.
The Waqf Act
In India, the Waqf Act serves as required constitutional legislation that defines and governs Waqfs. The first of its sort was the Waqf Act of 1954. The Central Waqf Council was established by the Act, although it was amended several times (1959, 1964, 1969, and 1984) due to several complications.
Finally, on November 22, 1995, the Waqf Act of 1995 was adopted and implemented. The Central Waqf Council and the State Waqf Board were constituted by this Act. These two entities, together with the Chief Executive Officer, who reports to the board, are in charge of the administration and oversight of Auqaf (Plural of Waqf).
Dispute around the Waqf Act
On April 20, 2022, the Delhi High Court issued a notice in a case challenging the constitutional validity of the Waqf Act 1995. Ashwini Upadhyay, an advocate, filed the petition. In his petition, Ashwini Upadhyay said that the Waqf Act is antagonistic to secularism in India.
In his petition, Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay stated that if the disputed Act is to defend the rights granted in Articles 29-30, it must include all minorities, including followers of Jainism, Buddhism, Sikhism, Judaism, Bahaism, Zoroastrianism, Christianity, and not only Muslims.
Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay emphasised how the government pays the Waqf Board but does not collect any revenue, and how it gets money from Hindu temples but does not spend it on them.
The petition further requests that the Central Government or the Law Commission of India create a “Uniform Code for Trust-Trustees and Charities-Charitable Institutions” in the spirit of Articles 14 and 15 and make it available for public debate and discussion.
Previously, the Supreme Court refused to consider a petition seeking directives from the national government or the Indian Law Commission to create the aforementioned Uniform Code.
