Samajwadi Party MP Akhilesh Yadav
Credit: PTI Photo
New Delhi: A united Opposition on Wednesday accused the Narendra Modi government of making changes to the Waqf law to “dilute” Constitution, “defame” and “disenfranchise” minorities and divide the country on religious lines while warning that it will prove to be a “waterloo” for the ruling BJP, which is trying to “hide” its failures”.
They raised questions on the provisions like allowing only people practicing Islam for five years to donate to Waqf and reduction in contribution to Waqf Boards among others.
Participating in the debate on the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2025, senior Congress MP KC Venugopal alleged that the BJP wants to divide the country on religious lines and its target is to establish Sangh Parivar's agenda of “destroying” minorities.
He said several legislations came during BJP rule but it has not brought a law to provide legal guarantee for MSP or addressing issues of unemployed youngsters. “You can see the Bill which has got the priority. They have only one agenda, to divide ‘Bharat Mata’ in the name of religion,” he said.
Describing Minority Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju’s “repeated” insistence that the Bill is not against minorities as “guilt conscience”, Venugopal questioned provisions for non-Muslims in Waqf Boards saying it was “clear discrimination”, as he cited examples of management of Hindu religious institutions, including Vaishno Devi temple.
“Today, you are against Muslims, tomorrow you will be against Christians and the day after against Sikhs. Country wants peace, harmony, togetherness. This Bill shatters it,” he said.
Earlier opening the debate for the Opposition, Congress Lok Sabha Deputy Leader Gaurav Gogoi said, “this bill is an attack on the basic structure of our Constitution, an attack on our federal structure, and has four primary objectives: to dilute the Constitution, to defame minority communities, to divide Indian society, and to disenfranchise minorities.”
Referring to the provision that allows only a practicing Muslim of five years to donate to Waqf, he said the minorities are now being forced to prove their religious identity with certificates. “Tomorrow, will people from other faiths also have to do this?” he asked.
“Which community do you want to mislead? The same community that fought for India’s independence? The community that sacrificed alongside Mangal Pandey in 1857? You want to tarnish the reputation of a community in which 2 lakh ulema were martyred? You seek to defame the community that supported us during the Quit India Movement? You want to stain the name of the community that supported the Dandi March…” Gogoi asked.
Alleging that BJP is looking at usurping Muslims’ properties to skirt the issue of identifying Hindus who have died or lost in Maha Kumbh, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav said BJP brings up a new Bill to “hide its failure”. He said the Bill is aimed at managing BJP's “diminishing” vote bank and will prove to be its "waterloo", as some MPs claiming to support it are not happy about it.
DMK's A Raja said that the irony is that a party with no Muslim MP is claiming to protect the interests of the community.
Trinamool Congress’ Kalyan Banerjee said the Bill is a “clear breach” of Muslims’ constitutional right to manage their own religious affairs.