After Waqf, BJP eying land of Christians, Jains, Buddhists and Hindu temples: I.N.D.I.A. allies

Mumbai: Hours after President Droupadi Murmu gave assent to Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2025 to amend the Waqf Act,1995, I.N.D.I.A. bloc allies Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT) and Sharad Pawar-led NCP (SP) in Sunday claimed that the BJP-led Centre would now target the lands belonging to Christians, Jains, Buddhists, as well as Hindu temples.

The development comes a day after the row over a now-deleted article published by the RSS’ mouthpiece Organiser on its website, which claimed that the Catholic Church is the largest non-governmental land owner in the country.

After this, Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi and Kerala Chief Minister and CPI(M) leader Pinarayi Vijayan flagged concerns over the issue.

The article ‘Who has more land in India? The Catholic Church vs Waqf Board Debate’ was published on April 3, but has now been removed.

Now, Thackeray, a former Maharashtra Chief Minister, and NCP (SP) leader Dr Jitendra Awhad have joined their I.N.D.I.A. opposition bloc allies and raised the issue.

“The next step would be to eye the land of Christians, Jains, Buddhists and even Hindu temples. They will give prime land to their friends. They have no love for any community,” said Thackeray.

“For many years, there has been a common belief that the Waqf Board is the second largest landowner in India after the government, however, this claim does not align with the actual data on land ownership in the country,” said Dr Awhad, a former minister.