NAPM said the government’s justification — alleging land grabbing by Waqf or inefficiency in its administration — was misleading and politically motivated
NEW DELHI – The National Alliance of People’s Movements (NAPM), a broader platform of progressive people’s organisations and movements, on Saturday demanded immediate repeal of the amended Waqf law and urged the Supreme Court to strike it down. The alliance called the act an attempt to disenfranchise Muslims and undermine minority rights.
“In what is a clear attempt to disenfranchise the Muslim community in ‘new India’, the BJP-led central government, with the crucial support of allies JD(U) and TDP successfully amended the Waqf Act, 1995 (in April 2025).” NAPM said in a statement.
Despite several petitions pending in the Supreme Court challenging the law’s constitutionality, the Union government notified the “Unified Waqf Management, Empowerment, Efficiency and Development Rules, 2025 (UMEED)” in July, the alliance stated.
Considering the patent unconstitutionality of the Waqf (Amendment) Act, NAPM joins all progressive movements across the country in demanding its immediate repeal and urges the Supreme Court to strike down the same as ultra vires, it said.
It underlined the key changes in the amendment include:
• Disputed properties will be deemed non-Waqf until cleared by the District Collector, raising conflict-of-interest concerns.
• The concept of “Waqf by user,” legally recognised in 2013, has been scrapped, putting lakhs of properties at risk.
• Waqf Boards must now include non-Muslim members, which many view as interference in community affairs, and
• Only Muslims practicing for at least five years can dedicate property as Waqf, restricting traditional practices.
According to official data, India has 8.7 lakh Waqf properties, nearly half of them under the “waqf by user” category. Uttar Pradesh alone accounts for 15% of all such properties. Activists fear that the new law will allow the state to claim disputed Waqf land, especially in BJP-ruled states.
NAPM said the government’s justification — alleging land grabbing by Waqf or inefficiency in its administration — was misleading and politically motivated.
“In the present case, the BJP led government has claimed that the amendment is driven by the felt need for improvement in the ‘welfare of the Muslim community’. Anyone who has lived through the last 11 years of BJP rule instantly understands this to be a hollow and hypocritical statement, if not one intended to add insult to injury. When a party whose members give genocidal calls against Muslims, are implicated in instances of gross violence against them, and have built their political careers on anti-minority hate, say they have the welfare of Muslims at heart, it makes awkward reading,” the alliance said.
It further pointed out that “The Modi-Shah led BJP’s electoral success rests on their achievement of having turned Muslims into political untouchables, thus diminishing the community’s representation in institutions of decision-making and governance. The Waqf Amendment should be seen as being in line with the other arbitrary and majoritarian actions of the ruling party. The combined effect of these actions is to divide our country along communal lines (both formally and informally), while consolidating power in the hands of Hindutva supremacists.”
The Citizenship Amendment Act of 2019 openly excluded Muslims from its benefits. Now, the Waqf (Amendment) Act of 2025 strikes at community property used for education, charity, and worship. Alongside, so-called ‘anti-conversion’ laws target interfaith marriages, while states like Uttarakhand have passed a Uniform Civil Code under the guise of gender justice.
Together, these measures reveal the Hindutva project: to legally disempower Muslims both civically and economically. This legal assault is reinforced by extra-legal tactics—the notorious bulldozer demolitions targeting Muslim homes, and routine vigilante violence incited by Hindutva mobs.
“The Waqf Amendment Act is unconstitutional, discriminatory, and threatens India’s pluralism,” NAPM stated, adding that it will continue to mobilise against the law alongside other progressive movements.
It warned that the amendment is part of a wider pattern of majoritarian laws, including the Citizenship Amendment Act, anti-conversion laws, and bulldozer actions targeting Muslims.
