There is widespread political outrage throughout the nation regarding the Waqf Amendment Bill. Some political parties support this bill as beneficial to the Muslim community while others are against it. A meeting of the Joint Parliamentary Committee on the Waqf Bill 2024 was conducted on Tuesday, November 5, with BJP MP Jagdambika Pal as the chairman. The meeting took place at Parliament House Annexe. While this was happening, senior lawyer Harish Salve represented the Bohra Muslim community in front of the Joint Parliamentary Committee discussing the Waqf Bill, where he advocated for these groups.
Lawyer Harish Salve informed the committee that the Shia and Bohra communities believe they should be excluded from the scope of the Waqf Act. As per reports, they requested for the Bohra community to be excluded from the Waqf Act or to establish a separate Waqf Board for them. Indeed, the Bohra community has alleged the Waqf Board of acting arbitrarily and illegally taking over properties. They have been requesting their own board for quite some time.
The Dawoodi Bohra community expressed their desire to be fully exempt from the Waqf Act and criticized the Waqf Amendment Bill for not understanding their community’s distinctiveness. During their demonstration, the Bohra group voiced their belief in the traditional structure upheld by their community, stating that their unique practices and conduct set them apart.
Indeed, Anjuman-e-Shiate Ali, the group in charge of Mumbai’s Dawoodi Bohra Jamaat, gave a talk to the Joint Parliamentary Committee regarding the Waqf Amendment Bill 2024. This institution is the highest authority of the Bohra community. Former Solicitor General of India Harish Salve represented the Bohra community in the parliamentary committee. Mustafa Lokhandwala, Alkamar Dawood and Abdulkadir Nooruddin from the Bohra community were also with him.
The Bohra community in the Wakf Amendment Bill is being considered for a separate board. In a meeting held in 2015, the Bohra community conveyed their desire to establish trusts for public welfare in order to own property and execute the act.
During their presentation to the committee, the Bohra community mentioned that the Waqf Act 1995 does not align with the beliefs of Dawoodi Bohras. Additionally, the Waqf (Amendment) Bill does not offer a remedy for this basic issue. The presentation further mentioned that the suggested legislation diminishes the importance of Al-Dai al-Mutlaq within the Dawoodi Bohra religion.
During their presentation to the committee, the Bohra community also expressed that the Dawoodi Bohra community does not receive a separate identity in the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2024. We are requesting that the proposed bill completely exempt all communities from the scope of the Waqf Act, 1995 to ensure equal treatment.
Earlier that day, opposition party members in the parliamentary committee met Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla during the break after the first session to express their disagreement with the decisions made by the committee’s chairman, Jagdambika Pal. They blamed Pal for making decisions on their own. The Lok Sabha speaker listened attentively and promised to make a decision soon. The members of parliament also presented a written statement to the speaker outlining their worries.
Following the discussion with the Speaker, TMC MP Kalyan Banerjee commented that we had a productive meeting. The Speaker carefully listened to us and assured us that he would investigate the issue. AAP MP Sanjay Singh and DMK MP A Raja echoed similar sentiments, stating that they had a productive meeting with the Lok Sabha Speaker, who pledged to address their concerns.