On Monday (17th March), Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra courted controversy after drawing frivolous analogies between the Waqf Board and temple committees.
Moitra specifically objected to the diversification (inclusion of non-Muslims) in both the State and Central Waqf Boards, as proposed in the Amendment Bill.
In her desperate bid to oppose the much-needed Amendment Bill, she compared the Waqf Board with a history of encroaching properties of non-Muslims to a temple committee.
200 crore Muslims of India will never accept Waqf Bill – MAHUA MOITRA pic.twitter.com/K3NcpL5Rkz
— Times Algebra (@TimesAlgebraIND) March 17, 2025
“Will we allow Muslims in our Kaligaht Hindu temple Board? Will we induct Muslims into the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC)? So, why are non-Muslims on this Waqf Board? I don’t understand this,” she was heard saying.
Moitra erroneously claimed, “There are 200 crore Muslims In India, the highest number of Muslims after Indonesia.” Having said that, a temple committee is not comparable to Waqf Board.
Temple committees are subjected to taxes, scrutinised and administered by local governments and cannot stake a claim on any land. Waqf on the other hand has been running a parallel system with no external scrutiny. The Boards are not accountable to the government and can lay claim to any property. This is why it is essential to have non-Muslims on the Board to prevent limitless misuse of power.
