BJP to launch nationwide awareness drive on new Waqf law

New Delhi: The BJP will launch a fortnight-long public awareness campaign, aimed especially at Muslims, from April 20 to publicise the benefits of the Waqf (Amendment) Act and counter the opposition's criticism of it, with party president JP Nadda and Minority Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju addressing its delegates on Thursday.

BJP office-bearers from across the country attended a workshop here as Nadda accused the opposition parties of misleading Muslims over the provisions of the amended law as part of its vote-bank politics.

He asserted that the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government is determined to make 'pasmanda (backward)' Muslims and women stakeholders in management and welfare programmes of the Waqf with transparent and efficient management of its properties, party sources said.

Members of Waqf boards from BJP-ruled states and the party's organisation, including its minority wing, attended the day-long workshop.

Nadda said the new law, which came into effect on April 8, would help utilise Waqf properties for the welfare of poor Muslims and women, adding it would free these assets from the control of a small but influential section of people and open them for the minority community's overall benefit.

The BJP president and Rijiju rejected the criticism that the law interfered with the rights of Muslims to manage their religious affairs.

The presence of non-Muslims in the Waqf Council and boards is all about management of properties and has nothing to do with religion, they said.

The party is looking to hold press conferences and meetings with members of Muslim society, the sources said, adding that 'FAQ' sheets, including in Urdu, had been prepared to rebut the criticism of the Act by several Muslim bodies and opposition parties, which dubbed it as unconstitutional and an infringement on the rights of Muslims.

BJP general secretary Radha Mohan Das Agrawal and its minority wing president Jamal Siddiqui are among the leaders assigned to spearhead the campaign that will continue till May 5, the sources said.

Several Muslim bodies and leaders of different opposition parties have challenged the constitutionality of the law in the Supreme Court, which is set to hear the case on April 16.