Waquar Hasan | Clarion India
NEW DELHI — All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB), one of the most influential bodies of Muslims in India, have announced that it will launch a nationwide campaign and deploy all democratic and legal means to oppose the bill if it is passed in the parliament.
The Board discussed about the Waqf Bill and the nationwide campaign against it at a press conference held in the Press Club of India, New Delhi on Thursday, the day when the Waqf Bill was introduced in the parliament after the Joint Parliament Committee presented its report.
“If this bill is passed at any cost, we have decided that we will launch a nationwide campaign against it within the framework of the constitution. It will be peaceful. We will also take legal recourse. We will utilize all options available to us. We will also go to court,” announced AIMPLB spokesperson Qasim Rasool Ilyas at the Press Conference.
The conference was addressed by Maulana Khalid Saifullah Rahmani, President, All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB), Maulana Syed Arshad Madani, Vice President, AIMPLB & President Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind, Maulana Obaidullah Khan Azmi, Vice President, AIMPLB, Maulana Mohd. Fazlur Rahim Mujaddidi, General Secretary, AIMPLB and Malik Moatasim Khan, Deputy Ameer, Jamaat-e-Islami Hind.
Addressing the press, Rahamani slammed the Central government for spreading lies about the Waqf properties.
“The current government dislikes the truth and spreads lies only. They propagate that Waqf will take over all properties and can take any land. When there are courts in the country how someone can take over any property like this,” he said.
He said the Waqf Bill is based on the religious discrimination.
“It is our constitutional right to live our life according to our religion and run institutions as per our customs and traditions,” said Rahmani.
AIMPLB chief pointed out that the religious places of Sikhs, Hindus and other communities are run by the members of that community. “We have no objection to that. The mosques, cemeteries and other places must be run by Muslims.The management of the religious places be done by people of that religion but we should have the same rights,” he asserted.
According to Rahmani, the AIMPLB representatives has met to convey its objections to the Waqf bill to two main allies of the BJP; Nitish Kumar’s JD(U) and Chandra Babu Naidu’s Telgu Desam Party (TDP).
The Muslim leader ruled out that the matter related to Waqf bill is about the minority and majority. He said It’s about the constitution.
Rahmani also criticized the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) brought in by some of the BJP-ruled states saying that the implementation of the UCC is not possible in such vast and diverse country.
“It brings no benefit to the country. Other part of the world will laugh about this. The issues of our country are unemployment, fall of rupees’ value, peace and protection of lives from lynchings. Instead of working on these issues, the government come up with issues like UCC to harm and supress a community,” he said.
Madani said that his organisation has moved the High Court against the Uniform Civil Code brought in by the Uttarakhand government.
Jamiat chief asserted that the country was established by the founding fathers on the secular values and constitution but the government attempt to change, amend and remove those secular sections of the constitution.
“We will defend these secular values of the constitution as much as we can do,” he said.
The Muslim group has issued a joint statement regarding the Waqf bill and the UCC after the press conference.
“We make it clear that if the bill is passed, we will not accept it under any circumstances. We will pursue all peaceful, legal and democratic options in collaboration with justice-loving, patrioticcitizens and religious groups until this unjust law is repealed,” reads the statement.
It further noted “This is a fact that the government’s stance on Muslim-related issues has been consistently biased, discriminatory and hostile—an approach that is not only irresponsible but also it is a direct violation of constitutional values and protections”.
The Muslim leaders urged all opposition parties and even the ruling BJP’s allies to ensure that this bill is not passed in the parliament. Likewise, they also appealed to Indian civil society, justice-loving citizens, defenders of democracy and advocates of constitutional, religious, and cultural rights to reject this draconian bill. “If this divisive bill is passed, it will not only affect the Muslims but will also set a dangerous precedent against all the endowments of other religious communities, places of worship and charitable institutions,” they pointed out.
