Aim of Waqf Act to empower poor, protect women: PM Modi
PM Modi said Dawoodi Bohra leader Syedna Mufaddal Saifuddin was the first person whom he consulted over the Waqf bill.
New Delhi Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Thursday that the Waqf bill was not drafted overnight but was a result of detailed discussion for more than five years.
Interacting with a delegation of Dawoodi Bohras at his residence, Modi said, “Waqf (Amendment) Act aims to empower the poor and protect women, who complained of family properties being converted into waqf. Our work is to empower such people. Muslim widows, particularly, face a lot of injustice. It is our effort to ensure justice to them.”
He also said Dawoodi Bohra leader Syedna Mufaddal Saifuddin was the first person whom he consulted over the Waqf bill.
The waqf amendment bill was passed in Parliament in the budget session and the President gave her assent. But the law is currently being challenged in the Supreme Court and the government has given an assurance the to SC on Thursday that it will not implement three contentious provisions of the bill for now.
Recalling the support of Sayedna Mufaddal Saifuddin, Modi said he had worked with the religious leader for three years on the draft and legal advice. “The law happened later. Initially in 2019, more than 1700 complaints had come from Muslim community asking for justice. And most of the complaints came from women. Then I said, lets investigate the reality. The waqf bill was not prepared overnight. We discussed all the aspects of the waqf for five years,” the PM said.
During the interaction, a Dawoodi Bohra leader showered praise on the Prime Minister for taking care of the “minority within a minority”, said an official. The community had sought exemptions from the new waqf law and the government has allowed them to opt out of the waqf law’s purview.
Officials also said the community members told Modi that it was their long-pending demand as they reposed faith in his vision of ‘Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, Sabka Vishwas’. Minority Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju was present in the meeting.
In the meeting, another community member pointed out that their community had bought an expensive property for a project in Bhindi Bazaar in Mumbai in 2015 and then someone from Nasik laid claim over it as a Waqf property in 2019. But they praised the PM for stopping such practices under the old waqf laws.
