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Rising Bharat Summit: “Now the sacred spirit of Waqf will be protected and the rights of poor and Pasmanda Muslims, women and children will also be safeguarded,” PM Modi had said on Tuesday
Waris Pathan and Sudhanshu Trivedi (right) at the Rising Bharat Summit.
Through its various sessions, the Rising Bharat Summit 2025 tried to present all sides of the amended Waqf law.
Speaking at the Rising Bharat Summit 2025, PM Narendra Modi had on Tuesday said that the rights of poor Pasmanda Muslims, women, and children will now be safe under the new Waqf law.
“What did the poor Pasmanda Muslims get? They got illiteracy and unemployment. Whereas Muslim women got injustice like Shahbano. I congratulate the Parliament of the country for making a wonderful law in the interest of the entire society, in the interest of the Muslim community. Now the sacred spirit of Waqf will be protected and the rights of poor and Pasmanda Muslims, women and children will also be safeguarded,” Modi said.
One of the sessions saw Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi, AIMIM’s Waris Pathan, SC lawyer Vishnu Shankar Jain and lawyer Shahid Ali debate the new law.
“Waqf is an honest attempt to run the system Constitutionally for the poor. Waqf board is the richest in the world with 39 lakh acres. Have they done anything for the poor, education, healthcare,” asked Trivedi.
“The Waqf amendment has only curtailed the unchecked powers…Of the 22, only two will be non-Muslims…It is in consonance with the principles of the Constitution. Only those provisions that were discriminatory against other religions have been removed,” said Jain. Jain said that the terms “secular” and “socialist” were incorporated into the Preamble of the Indian Constitution during the Emergency in 1976 without the formation of a JPC.
“Why are Muslims not allowed in Hindu endowment board,” asked Pathan. He urged the government to withdraw the Waqf Bill just as it had rolled back the farm laws. According to Ali, the amendment will not stand in court.
Another session was with BJP spokesperson and Rajya Sabha MP Sudhanshu Trivedi, Shiv Sena UBT spokesperson and MP Priyanka Chaturvedi, and Congress’s MP Imran Masood.
Chaturvedi said, “The Centre should have given clarity on how we will tackle the drop in exports owing to the tariffs…We too wanted reforms in Waqf, but the suggestions made through JPC by opposition parties were rejected…Sena UBT is with reform, but it should take all sections of society. Non-Muslims on board would lead to suspicion within community…A lot of our concerns were considered, but considering others too would have helped.”
Masood said, “The government has stopped registration and funds for madrassas, while talking about empowering Muslim students. The amount of land reduced over months. They spoke of digitisation of land records, but refused it was done in JPC. In India, 90% of the Waqf properties are from 1906. The 123 properties mentioned in Parliament are mosques and shrines which they said they won’t take away. These properties were given away by the British to Waqf in 1913. The law doesn’t state Pasmanda Muslims, the two women member provision was there earlier too…But I agree with the government saying that the board has done nothing for the poor.”
Trivedi said, “The amendment will not affect shrines, graveyard, it only talks about Waqf land…Our provisions are better than any other Islamic nation.”
At an earlier session, BJP national spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla, Delhi AIMIM chief Shoaib Jamai and SP spokesperson Rajkumar Bhati spoke about Waqf.
Poonawalla said, “Waqf is being used to incite people. In West Bengal, you have to go to courts to get nod for Ram Navmi procession, but they don’t want to follow a law passed by Parliament. They protest and hurl stones at police…If they talk about the Constitution, the old law allowed a property of choice to be declared a Waqf property. You could go only to tribunal and there is no appeal after that. The old law made the owner and not encroacher prove that they own it. Is that Constitutional? Waqf owns 9 lakh+ properties. The return on Waqf property is Rs 444 per year per acre. In case of agriculture or urban areas, the return is Rs 1-5 lakh per acre. The Waqf bill is an instrument of social justice for poor Muslims across their sub-groups.”
Bhati responded to the claims of encroachment and the need for amendment.
Jamai said, “A false narrative is being spread about Waqf board…it is a legal body which registers land with the state officials. How can there be encroachment? Another is the amount of land with Waqf board…Hindu board in four states have 12 lakh acres. Waqf may have corruption…Plus they have brought in non-Muslim members.”