POBNEWS24, Dhaka Apr 6, 2025: BNP has expressed hope that India will reconsider the amended Waqf Act to ‘maintain regional harmony’.
On behalf of the party, standing committee member Salahuddin Ahmed said, ‘India is a large democratic state and we express our hope that the Indian government will reconsider this law while upholding the guardianship role of the state in protecting the religious rights of citizens of all religions.
‘We believe that this step will play a historic role in maintaining regional communal harmony’.
He said this at a press conference at the Chairperson’s office in Gulshan on Sunday afternoon.
The press conference said, ‘After analyzing various sections of the law, we have seen that this law has attempted to curtail the rights of minority Muslims in India and to treat them discriminatoryly. Muslims in India and various Muslim organizations have reacted to the ‘Muslim Waqf (Amendment) Bill-2024’ as unconstitutional and politically motivated.
Salahuddin said, ‘According to organizations like the All India Muslim Personal Law Board, this law is against the basic spirit of the Islamic Waqf system. According to them, the management of the Waqf Board should be done by Muslims. They have expressed their opinion that it amounts to a direct interference in the religious rights of Muslim citizens.’
This member of the BNP Standing Committee expressed concern and said, ‘There is ample scope for misuse of this law, which is against the religious traditions, rights, culture and interests of 14% of India’s population, i.e. about 20 crore Muslims – which can create a huge disaster in the management of Islamic religious institutions.
‘Of the approximately 1 million acres of property under the Waqf Boards in India, most of it is used for public welfare purposes such as mosques, madrasas, cemeteries and orphanages. The inclusion of non-Muslim members in the board of directors in the new law has created controversy, which may undermine the constitutional rights of Muslim citizens.
Salahuddin went missing from Uttara, Dhaka on March 10, 2015, during the BNP’s movement against the Awami League government. Two months later, the BNP leader, who found himself in Shillong, India, returned to the country after a change of heart.
Salahuddin said, “In India, there is no inclusion of people of other religions in such a national board or in any legal organization. In that case, this law will be considered a discriminatory law.”
“The changes in the new law may make the future of mosques and other Islamic religious institutions built on waqf land established centuries ago uncertain.”
He said, “The jurisdiction given to non-Muslim members in the new law to manage and administer these properties is tantamount to direct interference in the religious rights of Muslim citizens.”
BNP Chairperson’s Advisory Council member Ismail Zabihullah and Legal Affairs Secretary Barrister Kaiser Kamal were present at the press conference.
